Policy Integration of Environmental Assessment and Disaster Management

Tajima, Ryosuke; Gore, Tom; Fischer, Thomas B.

doi:10.1142/s1464333214500288

Cited by 20 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…This is similar to what has been observed with regards to preparedness for disasters, for which there is a growing IA literature (see e.g. Kelly 2002;Olshansky and Chang 2009;Liu and Duan 2010;Tajima et al 2014;Nijenhuis and Wahlstrom 2014). Whilst a scopus search of 'impact assessment' and 'pandemic' resulted in 31 hits on 22 April 2020, none of the associated publications deal with 'impact assessment' as understood by the community which IAPA represents.…”

supporting

confidence: 73%

Editorial

Fischer

2020

Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal

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supporting

confidence: 73%

Editorial

Fischer

2020

Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal

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“…Whilst PHIs have a key role in protecting, improving and promoting health, there is little consideration and evidence about their role in HIA beyond advocacy and capacity building for example, carrying out HIAs [25,40,98,99]. In the case of the SAH policy, it demonstrated that HIA could be used and adapted as part of emergency planning and supporting measures as a way of establishing the health, inequality and well-being impacts and / or anticipating the impact of future identical or similar situations along with other IA processes as noted by Tajima et al [48]. PHIs also hold health intelligence required for such a HIA, for example the Public Health Observatory at Public Health Wales.…”

Section: The Role Of Hia By Public Health Institutesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It has also been noted in other IA literature for example, in relation to disaster management planning that there is little research on this topic and that using IA in order to prepare for, and recover from, disaster or emergency events would be advantageous [48]. Furthermore, others have highlighted that the failure of some cities across the world to prepare for an unexpected event such as COVID-19 through an equity lens resulted in negative health impacts for many population groups [49].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using health impact assessment (HIA) to understand the wider health and well-being implications of policy decisions: the COVID-19 ‘staying at home and social distancing policy’ in Wales

et al. 2021

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Background Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is promoted as a decision-informing tool by public health and governmental agencies. HIA is beneficial when carried out as part of policy development but is also valuable as a methodology when a policy is being implemented to identify and understand the wider health and well-being impacts of policy decisions, particularly when a decision needs to be taken rapidly to protect the population. This paper focusses on a HIA of the ‘Staying at Home and Social Distancing Policy’ or ‘lockdown’ in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales conducted by the Welsh national public health institute. It describes the process and findings, captures the learning and discusses how the process has been used to better understand the wider health and well-being impacts of policy decisions beyond direct health harm. It also examines the role of public health institutes in promoting and using HIA. Methods A HIA was conducted following a standard HIA five step process. A literature review was undertaken alongside 15 qualitative semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders, and relevant health and demographic data were collated. The results were triangulated and analysed to form a holistic assessment of the policy decision and its impacts. Results A wide range of major health and well-being impacts of the lockdown in Wales were identified across the determinants of health, which included positive and negative social, economic, environmental and mental well-being impacts beyond the impact on direct health. Populations affected included children and young people, those on low incomes and women as well as those whose health has been directly impacted by COVID-19 such as older people. The work highlighted the benefit that HIA can bring in emphasizing impacts which can inform policy and shared learning with others. Conclusion HIA is a largely underused tool to understand the impact of policy and political decisions, particularly when a decision has been taken at speed. This case study highlights how HIA provide evidence and information for advocacy and further work by public health institutes, health agencies and policy makers.

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“…The vulnerability of a proposed project (exposure and resilience) to any accidents and natural disasters will also have to be taken into account (Tajima et al, 2014) and projects connected with responses to civil emergencies will need to be screened for potential EIA application (Swain and Therival, 2014).…”

Section: Prospects Under the New Eia Directivementioning

confidence: 99%