The good health and wellbeing of the population is largely a product of the settings in which people live, work and play. This means that improving the health and wellbeing of the population requires more than the provision of health care services. It requires new ways of working together with new approaches and new tools (PHAC 2006).
Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a formal process that aims to ensure public policies, programmes and plans enhance the potentially beneficial effects on health and wellbeing and reduce or mitigate the potential harm with innovative solutions. Although relatively new in New Zealand, it is a well-established approach internationally.
In September 2006, the Government announced funding to support HIA on new government policy and legislation. The funding will be used to establish an HIA support team to provide agencies with public health information and expertise.
HIA is undertaken when there is a draft proposal(s) but no commitment has been made. There must be an opportunity to modify the policy proposal for improvement of health and wellbeing. The process is informed by both quantitative and qualitative evidence, and focuses on outcomes.
HIA experience is growing in New Zealand and internationally. Evaluations in New Zealand show positive responses to the process by agencies who have undertaken HIA. Completed HIAs have significantly influenced the policies and plans being assessed. In addition, HIAs have engaged Māori and other key stakeholders to be actively involved in the policy where there had previously been little involvement. They have also improved relationships across sectors, and resulted in the establishment of jointly-funded secondments and an improved understanding of what influences people’s health and wellbeing.
International experience has shown that an explicit and systematic process, such as HIA, is needed to ensure the availability of sufficient technical information. It also ensures that health is broadly defined (to include wellbeing) and that equity issues are addressed. A systematic assessment process such as HIA needs to become part of agency ethos for it to become a routine part of decision-making. Agencies need access to quality public health information and support.
This report is a companion volume to the PHAC’s 2005 publication A Guide to HIA: a policy tool for New Zealand.
Purpose
Public policies aim to benefit the whole population but can result in unintended negative effects on health and wellbeing, including the widening of health disparities. HIA is used to assist in reducing health inequalities through planning and policy-making processes.
Use of HIA can also improve intersectoral collaboration and community participation, and is an effective way of promoting community wellbeing across sectors. It assists agencies to fulfil statutory obligations for community health and wellbeing, for example under the Local Government Act 2002, the Land Transport Management Act 2003 and the Building Act 2004. It also has strong links with sustainable development goals.