Health Impact Assessment - Research Proposal Example

Health Impact Assessment Introduction The wellbeing of a society and its people are an important aspect for any form of government. It demands the highest priority to be taken care of, whenever a new plan or programme is proposed and especially, when it has the prospect of affecting the health of the respective society. A health impact relates to affecting the health of the concerned people either in a positive or negative way. For instance, reducing the pollution would have a positive effect on health whereas a new chemical plant could endanger the life of those living in its surroundings. These effects can be analyzed and their intensity of impact can be realized through the process called Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Health Impact Assessment, according to World Health Organization European Center for Health Policy (ECHP) is "a combination of procedures, methods and tools by which a policy, program or project may be judged as to its potential effects on the health of a population, and the distribution of those effects within the population". Proposal The proposal that is chosen for evaluation through HIA is: “Setting the age limit to 16 to imbibe Alcohol” The proposal is intended to bring down the age for alcohol consumption by teenagers. The aim of this proposal is to decrease the appetite for younger generation to feed into alcohol consumption thereby endangering health. A major proponent for this proposal is that access to alcohol at an early age would reduce the number of people breaking the rules just to consume alcohol. It also would reduce their consumption rate comprehensively which in turn would improve their health. There are also opponents to this proposal which includes addiction to alcohol at an early age resulting in the damage of health. In order to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of this proposal with respect to the aspects of health, the Health Impact Assessment of setting the age limit to 16 to imbibe alcohol is done. HIA method The effectiveness of HIA for this proposal depends on: At which stage of the proposal it is implemented The volume of data that can be collected pertaining to the goal of this assessment. Implementing a HIA for this proposal involves 5 steps which are outlined here. Requirements gathering The initial step of any implementation process is gathering the requirements. In this proposal, this step plays a prominent role. The health impact assessment of this proposal needs to be analyzed before getting on to the process of implementation. Any new proposal will have both negative and positive impacts on the health of the public. The requirements needed for the implementation of health impact assessment for this proposal is clearly determined. (Davenport 2006). The requirements may vary depending on the type of proposal. Data collection and analysis forms a part of this step thereby providing a hassle free implementation of the respective health impact assessment. This data collection can be done using the inductive approach which ensures that only relevant data is used in the implementation process. Even the analysis must be carried out using the same approach so that the steps that immediately follow these steps can be performed with ease. (Gilpin 1995). Once data collection is completed, the analyzed data will pave way to new interpretations that will provide the various choices using which the required data can be selected for implementation. The process of data collection can be accomplished using two methods namely, content analysis and interviews with the concerned people who possess greater knowledge regarding health impact assessment. (Douglas 2001).Since requirements analysis involves various sub processes, it is better to carry on these processes simultaneously so that the implementation process is done as per the proposal. The next step in the implementation of health impact assessment is screening. Screening The next step in the implementation process is screening. This is one among the primary steps of the implementation process. (Brebbia 2009).Screening is done to check whether the proposed plan will lead to any unforeseen circumstances that may turn into a problem in the future. Another use of this step is it determines the risk of any possible health questions that may arise once the proposal is implemented. Since the opinion of the people may differ, it is wise to perform a screening process that ensures the proposal does not yield any problems in the near future. (IFC 2009).Though the proposals are implemented to have a social impact assessment, in certain cases they may lead to health impacts. Once this step is carried out, the concerned officials can be confident enough that the proposal will not pose any threat. The screening process will also enable the people involved in implementation to determine the necessity for a health impact assessment. Determining the Scope of Proposal This step is an important part of any implementation process since it determines the scope of the proposed plan. This is done to ensure that the proposal yields only positive impacts to the society. The health impact assessment is generally implemented for the proposals that are beneficial to the society and the public as well. This part of implementation is considered to be the process for determining the range and ratio of the health hazards and the type of hazards. (Mindsell 2003).It is also efficient in determining the benefits and positive impacts to the society. This forms the primary part of the health impact assessment implementation process and the types of questions that are addressed in the health impact assessment are specified in this step of the process. The key questions pertaining to this particular proposal are determined only after considering the various health authorities which play a major role in implementing a new proposal. This proposal aims at defining the age for alcohol consumption. (Frumkin 2010). This proposal insists that people below the age of 16 should not be allowed to consume alcohol. The scope of this proposal must be determined in this stage to ensure that the proposal reaches well with the public as well as the health authorities. (Joffe 2002). The main aim of this project is to define the age limit so that teenagers are not prone to alcohol consumption. This step not only determines the scope of the proposal, but it examines whether the proposal is efficient enough to compete with the complexities of the health impact assessment. The complexities and complications of the proposal must also be determined to analyze the possibility of this proposal becoming a success. Assessing the Risk Risk is a part of any project or proposal. It may arise at any point of time during the implementation process. Hence the health impact assessment must be implemented in such a way that it tracks any sort of risks and helps the proposed project to overcome such risks in a jiffy. (Center 1986).This proves that a proposal is efficient enough to be implemented in a society and it can also have a great impact. Risk assessment is carried out in various methods which ensure that the potential risks are identified well in advance. (Sheridian 2004).This ensures that the proposal does not lead to any problem in the future. Investigation activities are defined to identify the risks involved in the proposed project. Once these activities are carried out, qualitative analysis is initiated. This analysis process determines the impacts that the proposal will create on health of the public as well as the society in general. (IFC 2009). The risks that a proposal may have on health and its related communities and its impacts are also assessed. This proposal may have more positive impact that negative impact, since restricting the age to 16 will certainly prove out to be a success among the people who strive hard to restrict teenagers in the alcohol consumption. (Hanney 2007). The importance of these impacts generally depends on the type of proposal and the way in which they are conceived in the society. The level of occurrence of the risks also determines the efficiency of a particular proposal. Monitoring and Evaluation Implementation of a health impact assessment does not end with the process of gathering requirements, analyzing the proposal, determining the risk and risk assessment. Instead the process of monitoring the proposed project and evaluating them at regular intervals forms the part of the implementation process. This step is carried out once the proposal and the corresponding health plan is developed. In this situation, the assessment team must inspect how the proposed actions will be implemented in the real world. (IFC 2009).Monitoring plays a major role as it covers the important part of an implementation process. Another important task in this process is to establish the responsibilities of the private companies and health department and institutions. This part decides the roles of health departments that assist in the process of health impact assessment. The concerned resources required for the respective proposal must be allocated so that the proposed project is implemented in an easier way. (Nickel 1996). This being the final step of the implementation process defines the early warning provision which alerts the health impact assessment in times of crisis. Benefits of HIA Health impact assessment provides various benefits to the proposed project, society as well as the individuals. Health impact assessment aims at implementing the proposed project with more advantages so that the society faces more positive indications. (Kemm 2005). The major health issues that pose greater problems to the society can be easily resolved without much difficulty. It does not incur much cost to the department that proposes a new project which yields more positive traits to the individuals who are prone to health related problems. (Kaputska 2010).When compared to other health related proposals, HIA is cost effective and comparatively simple to implement in any sort of environment. This is considered to be the most advantageous aspect of health impact assessment. It also aims at educating the people regarding the proposed project.(Turnbull 1992). Most of the health problems and its related issues can be resolved with the help of health impact assessment. When considering this proposal, the health impact assessment aims at providing a complete outlook on the proposal which aims at defining the age limit. Disadvantages When comparing the benefits and advantages, the disadvantages of health impact assessment for this proposal is considerably less. The only disadvantage is that, it does not include flexible process steps as each step has to be carried out irrespective of the proposal. (Miller 2009).Certain proposal may not require a particular step but they cannot afford to skip it for the sake of completing the implementation process. In spite of the various advantages, this particular disadvantage marks the negative side os the health impact assessment. References Davenport, Clare. 2006. Use of Health Impact Assessment in Incorporating Health Considerations. Epidemiol Community Health 60(3): 196-201. Douglas, Margaret. 2001. Addressing Health Inequalities in Health Impact Assessment. J Epidemiol Community Health 55: 450-451. Mindsell, J.2003. A Glossary for Health Impact Assessment. J Epidemiol Community Health 57(9): 647-651. Joffe, M. 2002. A Framework for the Evidence Base to Support Health Impact Assessment. Epidemiol Community Health 56: 132-138. Sheridian, L. 2004. Health Impact Assessment as an Agent of Policy Change. Community Health 58: 169-174. Hanney, S. 2007. An Assessment of the Impact of the Health Technology Assessment. Health Technology Assessment 11(53). IFC. 2009. Introduction to Health Impact Assessment. Environmental and Social Development. Kemm, John. 2005. Health Impact Assessment. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Turnbull, Robert. 1992. Environmental and Health Impact Assessment of Development Projects. U.S.A: Elseiver Science Publishers. Miller, Frederic. 2009. Health Impact Assessment: Four Step Impact Assessment. U.K: Alpha Script Publishing. Kapustka, Lawrence. 2010. Environmental Risk Assessment and Management. New Jersey: John Wiley &Sons. Nickel, Jack. 1996. Environmental Health Impact Assessment. U.K: Health Protection Branch. Center, Larry. 1986. Environmental Health Impact Assessment. U.S.A: Pan American Center for Human Health. Frumkin, Howard. 2010. Environmental Health: From Global to Local. U.S.A: John Wiley & Sons. Brebbia, C.A. 2009. Environmental Health Risk. U.K: WIT Press. Gilpin, Alan. 1995. Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA): Cutting Edge for the Twenty First Century. U.K: Cambridge University Press. Read More