This interactive panel discussion will feature applications and emerging trends of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) with experts Dinah Bear, Ben Cave, and Aaron Wernham.

What is 'Health Impact Assessment'?
Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is a structured process that uses scientific data, professional expertise and public input to objectively evaluate the potential health effects of a proposed project, policy, or program before it is built or implemented. HIA provides practical recommendations to decision-makers for ways to minimize adverse health outcomes and maximize opportunities to improve health. HIA brings public health considerations into the decision-making process in sectors outside of traditional public health arenas, such as transportation, housing, land use, and education.

Dinah Bear, JD, is an attorney at law, who served for over 25 years on the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) where she was responsible for interpreting the legal requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and assisted in overseeing the implementation of NEPA throughout the executive branch.

Ben Cave advises the World Health Organization and the U.K. Department of Health on requirements and methodologies for strategic environmental assessment. Mr. Cave is the chair of the health section of the International Association for Impact Assessment.

Aaron Wernham, MD, MS, directs the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts, established to promote and support the use of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in the U.S. Previously, Dr. Wernham served as a senior policy analyst with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium where he led a joint state-tribal-federal working group which developed guidance for implementing HIA in Alaska.

Sponsors: U of M’s Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars, the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center, and the Healthy Environments Partnership