Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a practice that aims to evaluate the potential impacts of a policy, program or project on population health so as to minimize the negative and maximize the positive effects.
The founding documents of HIA identify citizen participation as one of the cornerstones of HIA. In fact, some maintain that an HIA remains incomplete without the effective and concrete participation of the community (Dannenberg, Bhatia et al., 2006, p.266).
The aim of this report is to introduce public health actors to the issues surrounding citizen participation in HIA. We will first examine the principal arguments in favour of citizen participation. We will then put these arguments into perspective, by also addressing some of the obstacles and risks associated with citizen participation in HIA.
Citizen Participation in Health Impact Assessment: Overview of Issues
21 pages
Source : Dannenberg, A. L., Bhatia, R. et al. (2006). Growing the field of health impact assessment in the United States: an agenda for research and practice. American Journal of Public Health, 96, 262-270.
