The Effectiveness of Health Impact Assessment ― Scope and Limitations of Supporting Decision-Making in Europe

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a support tool for intersectoral decision- and policy-making. This book provides a detailed map of the use of HIA in Europe across a large range of sectors, including transport, environment, urban planning, and agriculture, and at the national, regional, and local levels. It also reviews the implementation and institutionalization of HIA with a specific focus on govnernance, financing, resource generation, and delivery. The book is structured in five parts. Part I reviews key issues, research, and results. Part II maps the use of HIA in Europe. Part III presents case studies on the effectiveness of HIA, and Part IV presents three case studies in which health is integrated with other assessments in three different countries. More case studies, presented in Part V, focus on using elements of HIA. The book is based on a European research project that received funding under the European Union Public Health Work Program. The research was lead by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and included research teams from 19 countries. Editors Wismar, Julia Blau, Kelly Ernst, and Josep Figueras.are affiliated with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies in Brussels. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)