Experiences and Insights from a Comprehensive Health Impact Assessment Initiative led by Rutgers University with support from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Health Impact Project, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation or The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a fast-growing practice in the U.S. that provides practitioners and policymakers with a tool to measure the health outcomes of decisions.
With support from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, a Rutgers University-led initiative explored how the practice of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) can be applied in post-disaster recovery and resilience planning. The project examined how HIA might serve as a tool to more systematically integrate health consideration into pre-disaster resilience planning. Toward this end, Rutgers led two HIAs designed to inform on-going disaster recovery and resilience planning decisions in two case study communities. New Jersey Future providing stakeholder engagement support to both HIAs.
In one HIA, the Rutgers team assessed the physical and mental health outcomes associated with the implementation of voluntary buyout scenarios in the Mystic Island community of Little Egg Harbor, NJ. In the second HIA, the Rutgers team examined the potential positive and negative health effects of a decision by the City of Hoboken to adopt amendments to its Stormwater Management Plan and ordinances that would implement recommendations of the Hoboken Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan.
In addition to the two HIAs, Rutgers also examined HIA practice nationally and consulted with HIA, resilience and disaster recovery thought leaders to develop a comprehensive set of national recommendations regarding the integration of HIA into resilience and pre-disaster planning.
Read a summary of the three reports here.
Click the title of each report to read more on that specific HIA:
- City of Hoboken, New Jersey Proposed Stormwater Management Plan Health Impact Assessment (HIA)
- Making Healthier Decisions about Disaster Recovery: Opportunities for the use of Health Impact Assessments
- Mystic Island Voluntary Buyout Health Impact Assessment (HIA): Assessing Health Outcomes of Post-Sandy Decision-Making
Go here to view a video and powerpoints from a May 17, 2016 briefing on the project outcomes: