Health Impact Statements Could Benefit Public Policy Decision-Making Process
From 2001 through 2003, researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health worked under a subcontract from the Partnership for Prevention, Washington, to assess the feasibility and usefulness of "health impact assessments" in policy-making.
Researchers sought to conduct health impact assessments of three policy initiatives at the local, state and federal levels.
Key Results
- Project staff assessed the feasibility, usefulness and limitations of three different approaches to creating health impact assessments for policy decision-making:
- Quantitative/analytic.
- Participatory.
- Procedural.
- Project staff created illustrative health impact assessments for the following two policy initiatives:
- The Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance.
- California Ballot Proposition 49 to increase after-school funding.
- The research team concluded that health impact assessments have potential to become a beneficial tool for persons involved in decision-making at all levels.