Summary

This document outlines minimum practice standards for conducting Health Impact Assessments (HIA). These standards serve as benchmarks to guide practitioners and improve the quality and consistency of HIA practice.

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What Are Practice Standards?‍

Practice Standards answer the question: How should an HIA be conducted? They help practitioners assess and improve their work and encourage discussion about HIA quality.

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The standards are intended for a variety of users, including HIA practitioners, funders, educators, and policymakers. They can be used to:

• Guide the planning, implementation, and evaluation of individual HIAs.
• Structure trainings and discussions about HIA practice.
• Inform funding decisions, regulatory requirements, or proposal reviews.
• Identify and evaluate the quality and effectiveness of HIA practice.
• Support the development of policies related to HIA.

Caveats and Considerations‍

The Practice Standards are guidelines, not rigid rules. Each HIA will differ based on scope, resources, timeline, and capacity. Not every standard may be achievable in every HIA.

Some standards address processes that may not be visible in the final HIA report. Therefore, any evaluation of an HIA’s quality should include conversations with the authors to fully understand how the standards were applied.