Health Impact Assessment

Health Impact Assessment (HIA) refers to a diverse set of analytic and communicative practices that aim to inform and improve social decisions in order to improve the environmental, economic, and social conditions required for optimal propulation health. This course provides an introduction to HIA with a focus on the need for and application of HIA to land use and transportation planning and development. The objectives of the course include understanding and comparing the range of practices used to conduct Health Impact Assessments in the U.S. and internationally; identifying the opportunities and obstacles for using the environmental impact assessment as vehicles for health analysis; and development and application of environmental health assessment tools to inform decision-making as part of a class project.