Health impact assessment

HIA can make a valuable contribution to Health Challenge Wales, the national focus for action to improve health and well-being. It examines local and national policies and initiatives to:

• reduce any negative impact; and
• give people more opportunities to improve their health.

HIA can be used at any stage of policy or project development. There are five main stages: 

• screening - deciding whether a HIA is necessary;
• scoping - determining the focus, methods and work plan;
• assessment - establishing the health impacts;
• reporting - producing a report of the assessment;
• monitoring and evaluation of the process - evaluating how the information has been used - its usefulness and impact on any decision-making process.

HIA can be used by organisations and groups in the public, private and voluntary sectors. It can be used at local, national and international levels.

HIA offers a systematic means of taking health into account as part of the planning and decision-making processes and encourages public involvement.