Assessment of health risks of policies

Journal Article · Mon Sep 15 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Environmental Impact Assessment Review

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.EIAR.2014.05.002· OSTI ID:22447487

Ádám, Balázs ^[1]; Molnár, Ágnes ^[2]; Ádány, Róza ^[2]; Bianchi, Fabrizio ^[3]; Bitenc, Katarina ^[4]; Chereches, Razvan ^[5]; Cori, Liliana ^[3]; Fehr, Rainer ^[6]; Kobza, Joanna ^[7]; Kollarova, Jana ^[8]; others, and

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1. Unit for Health Promotion Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Southern Denmark, Niels Bohrs Vej 9, DK-6700 Esbjerg (Denmark)
2. Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, University of Debrecen, P.O. Box 9, H-4012 Debrecen (Hungary)
3. Unit of Environmental Epidemiology, Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Council of Research, Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa (Italy)
4. National Institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia)
5. Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babes-Bolyai University, Strada Mihail Kogalniceanu 1, 3400 Cluj (Romania)
6. NRW Centre for Health, Westerfeldstr. 35-37, 33611 Bielefeld (Germany)
7. Public Health Department, Silesian Medical University, 18 Medykow Street, 40-752 Katowice (Poland)
8. Department of Health Promotion, Regional Public Health Authority, Ipelska 1, 04011 Kosice (Slovakia)

The assessment of health risks of policies is an inevitable, although challenging prerequisite for the inclusion of health considerations in political decision making. The aim of our project was to develop a so far missing methodological guide for the assessment of the complex impact structure of policies. The guide was developed in a consensual way based on experiences gathered during the assessment of specific national policies selected by the partners of an EU project. Methodological considerations were discussed and summarized in workshops and pilot tested on the EU Health Strategy for finalization. The combined tool, which includes a textual guidance and a checklist, follows the top-down approach, that is, it guides the analysis of causal chains from the policy through related health determinants and risk factors to health outcomes. The tool discusses the most important practical issues of assessment by impact level. It emphasises the transparent identification and prioritisation of factors, the consideration of the feasibility of exposure and outcome assessment with special focus on quantification. The developed guide provides useful methodological instructions for the comprehensive assessment of health risks of policies that can be effectively used in the health impact assessment of policy proposals. - Highlights: • Methodological guide for the assessment of health risks of policies is introduced. • The tool is developed based on the experiences from several case studies. • The combined tool consists of a textual guidance and a checklist. • The top-down approach is followed through the levels of the full impact chain. • The guide provides assistance for the health impact assessment of policy proposals.

• OSTI ID: 22447487
• Journal Information: Environmental Impact Assessment Review, Journal Name: Environmental Impact Assessment Review Vol. 48; ISSN 0195-9255; ISSN EIARDK
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
DECISION MAKING
ENERGY POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
FOREIGN POLICY
HEALTH HAZARDS
PROPOSALS
RISK ASSESSMENT