A Community Informed Health Impact Assessment Toolkit

The World Health Organisation advise that a successful Health Impact Assessment is based on the four interlinked values of democracy (promoting stakeholder participation), equity (considering the impact on the whole population), sustainable development and the ethical use of evidence.

What if this was designed by the people who live in the neighbourhoods that will be assessed?

With support funding from the Community Knowledge Fund, Centric Lab and Clean Air for Southall & Hayes worked together over 6 months to development an assessment. In the end we identified that this process should be available to all and a toolkit was created.

Our experience has been that the trickle-down nature of turning NGO guidance into local government policy has resulted in vested interests influencing the approach and outcomes of such guidance. The current HIA methodology fails to recognise the susceptibility of communities who have experienced chronic, multi-generational and disproportionate exposure to physiological and psychological stressors from the places where we live and work and our histories as marginalised and racialised people.

This 6 part, multi-page, toolkit gives space for the honouring of the four interlinked values of democracy, equity, sustainable development, and ethical use of evidence by centring lived experience knowledge, expertise, and agency at the forefront of its development.

This justice-led toolkit is designed to support grassroots community groups co-producing a community informed Health Impact Assessment (HIA).

As a toolkit it provides a framework for going on a journey of co-production. There are different stages to the process, encouraging points of reflection, research, and engagement with different people, organisations and stakeholders. The framework is designed to ensure a healthy amount of time and space is given so that democracy, equity, and lived experience sit at the heart of the outcome.

Following a successful pilot the project is now in testing and implementing mode with support from some London local authority departments.

If you are interested in knowing more about this project please contact Josh to discuss further: josh@thecentriclab.com