RWJF, Pew Launch $7.2 Million Initiative to Promote Use of Health Impact Assessments
RWJF, Pew Launch $7.2 Million Initiative to Advance Policies that Promote Health
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts have announced the launch of a four-and-a-half-year, $7.2 million initiative to promote the use of health impact assessments (HIAs) as a decision-making tool for policy makers.
Funded by RWJF and operated and administered by Pew, the Health Impact Project will provide between $25,000 and $150,000 in funding for up to fifteen HIA demonstrations proposed by government agencies, educational institutions, and nonprofits at the local, state, and tribal levels. In addition to financial support, which will be awarded on a rolling basis, grantees will receive training, mentoring, and technical assistance through the initiative from leading HIA experts.
HIAs are a flexible, data-driven approach used to identify the health consequences of new policies and develop practical strategies to enhance their benefits and minimize adverse effects. They are also an effective way to incorporate health into the decisions made by sectors such as transportation, planning, education, and housing that do not traditionally focus on health-related outcomes. For example, an HIA for a new road could measure its impact on air quality, childhood asthma, and injury rates — data that can then be used to address such considerations early in the planning process.
"To help people make healthier choices and stem the rising tide of chronic disease, health needs to be factored into public policy and other decisions that affect and influence how we live, work, learn, and play," said RWJF president and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. "The HIA process can foster a new way of thinking that puts health at the forefront of public policy."
“Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts Launch National Initiative to Advance Policies that Promote Health.”
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Press Release
10/20/09.
Primary Subject: Health
Secondary Subject(s): Public Affairs
Location(s): National
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