Health Impact Assessment
The New Mexico Health Equity Partnership (HEP), an initiative at the Santa Fe Community Foundation, believes every New Mexican should have the opportunity to lead a healthy life, to live in neighborhoods where our children and families thrive and have a say in the decisions that impact their communities. We train residents and community groups on how to make a more compelling case with greater impact when engaging policymakers on issues they care most about. One critical tool that we provide and teach is the Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Through the HIA, advocates and residents learn how to collect and utilize data that can inform policy change, and hold decision makers more accountable. The HIA is an effective means in empowering and elevating community members’ voices. HIA has produced the following results:
- It builds leadership. Community members learn how to navigate the political system. They become more knowledgeable about decision making processes, and they become more comfortable with speaking before decision makers.
- It commands attention from decision makers and leads to the adoption of community recommendations.
- It fosters communication and collaboration among disparate groups that previously did not have good relationships.
A forthcoming report, by New Stories to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, highlights HIA as a best practice. The NMHEP members are noted as STARS as communities coming together to inform policies to improve health via HIA. The report notes that what is particularly relevant in New Mexico is that HIA’s are being used by enough people in enough communities that they are creating a common vocabulary for action and learning.
Helpful Links-
- HIA overview
- Completed HIA reports
- HIA screening worksheet
- HIA Work & Community Plan
- HIA Sample Report Outline
- HIA Screening Visual
- HIA Sample Budget
- HIA Scoping Exercises
- HIA Assessment Summary Worksheet
- HIA Media Advocacy Plan template
- HIA Evaluation Worksheet
- Memo of Understanding (MOU) Template
- HIA Youth Toolkit
- HEP HIA Values
- HIA Process
- Data Collection through Art – Body Collage Tips
2018 HIA Webinar Series
- Introduction to HIA Webinar Slides
- Introduction to HIA Webinar Video
- HIA Scoping Webinar Slides
- HIA Scoping Webinar Video
- HIA Assessment Webinar Slides
- HIA Training Slides
2019 HIA Webinar Series
Spanish Language Resources
- Análisis de Efecto en la Salud – visión de conjunto (HIA Overview in Spanish)
- Análisis de Efecto en la Salud – Plan de medios de comunicación (Media Advocacy Plan template in Spanish)
- Análisis de Efecto en la Salud –diapositivas de powerpoint (HIA Training Slides in Spanish)
Examples
- Doña Ana Place Matters- Media Advocacy (Communications) Plan Example
- National Center for Frontier Communities/SWNM Food Policy Council Communications Plan Example
Additional Resources