Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a policy-support instrument and approach that seeks to assess the health impacts of projects, programmes and policies on population health. It has been endorsed at national policy levels in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since the early 2000s. This book examines how and why Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) conducted in both jurisdictions have informed policy development. The book explores how HIA knowledge and evidence was used, or not used, in the development of local policies. This text is based on original explorative research involving a qual ... More

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a policy-support instrument and approach that seeks to assess the health impacts of projects, programmes and policies on population health. It has been endorsed at national policy levels in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland since the early 2000s. This book examines how and why Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) conducted in both jurisdictions have informed policy development. The book explores how HIA knowledge and evidence was used, or not used, in the development of local policies. This text is based on original explorative research involving a qualitative longitudinal study, investigating four HIAs conducted in both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland. An original conceptual lens was used in the analysis for this exploration, drawing primarily from political science. The four HIAs were conducted on traffic and transport, Traveller accommodation, urban redevelopment and air quality. The conduct of HIAs in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland is set within the context of the health and local government systems, and the reform processes both systems are going through. The impact of these reform programmes on the development of intersectoral action for health, and on the progress of HIA in particular, is explored within the text. This conceptually-grounded guide draws from the disciplines of the political and social sciences and public health, and will appeal to academics, students and practitioners in these fields as well as policy-makers and planners at local and national government levels.