Promoting equity through the practice of health impact assessment in king county, Washington

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is an important tool for advancing health and equity. HIAs help inform decision makers and other stakeholders about the likely health impacts associated with a proposed public decision (e.g., proposed policy, program, plan, or project), and they provide information that serves as the basis of recommendations for ensuring that the decision improves health outcomes, especially for the most vulnerable. As more health practitioners are picking up HIA as a tool to advance health, it's critical to provide guidance on the robust inclusion of equity in order to eliminate prevalent health disparities.

The Public Health Department of Seattle & King County (PHSKC) has been engaged on an advisory committee to guide the development of a new publication, Promoting Equity through the Practice of Health Impact Assessment, due out in March 2013. This paper supports the PHSKC's dedication to equity and social justice as laid out in the county's executive order and accompanying required practices. PHSKC has conducted two HIAs to date and continues to view HIAs as an important tool for advancing health and equity in the region.

This presentation will describe several of the equity principles described in the new publication, discuss the ways in which those principles were implemented in the Seattle, King County region, as well as share challenges and lessons learned from the HIA implementation process. This presentation is part of a proposed panel titled Promoting Equity through the Practice of Health Impact Assessment.