Quantitative health impact assessment: taking stock and moving forward

J Epidemiol Community Health. 2012 Dec;66(12):1088-91. doi: 10.1136/jech-2011-200835. Epub 2012 Jul 7.

Abstract

Over the past years, application of health impact assessment has increased substantially, and there has been a strong growth of tools that allow quantification of health impacts for a range of health relevant policies. We review these developments, and conclude that further tool development is no longer a main priority, although several aspects need to be further developed, such as methods to assess impacts on health inequalities and to assess uncertainties. The main new challenges are, first, to conduct a comparative evaluation of different tools, and, second, to ensure the maintenance and continued availability of the toolkits including their data contents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Health Impact Assessment / instrumentation
  • Health Impact Assessment / methods
  • Health Impact Assessment / trends*
  • Humans
  • Models, Theoretical
  • Outcome Assessment, Health Care*
  • Public Health / methods*
  • Public Health / trends
  • Public Policy*