Using Health Impact Assessment as an Interdisciplinary Teaching Tool.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Urban Planning
• Health Impact Assessment

Background:

• Health Impact Assessment (HIA) courses train students to evaluate health effects of policies and projects.
• Public health and urban planning offer complementary training frameworks for addressing health determinants.
• Existing frameworks can be enhanced by integrating practical planning skills with public health ethics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the synergistic potential of public health and urban planning in Health Impact Assessment education.
• To identify how combined disciplinary perspectives can improve HIA practice.
• To propose methods for enriching HIA community engagement.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of public health and urban planning educational frameworks.
• Literature review on HIA training and community engagement practices.
• Conceptual framework development integrating disciplinary strengths.

Main Results:

• Public health and urban planning possess distinct yet complementary approaches to understanding health-influencing conditions.
• Integrating planning's focus on practical community change with public health's emphasis on ethics enriches HIA training.
• Emphasizing introspection in HIA community engagement can foster deeper understanding and impact.

Conclusions:

• A combined public health and urban planning approach offers a more robust framework for Health Impact Assessment education.
• Enhanced HIA training can better equip practitioners to address community impact, social justice, and ethical considerations.
• Empathetic introspection in engagement processes is crucial for effective HIA.