Development of a Health Impact Assessment Screening Tool: A Value Versus Investment Approach

The first step of any health impact assessment (HIA) is screening to determine whether an HIA is an appropriate assessment option. Although screening tools exist, there is no universally-applied, transparent method that includes consideration of costs (investment) and benefits (value) of the HIA process. An HIA screening tool was developed to help address this need through the use of a targeted scoring system to assess the value of conducting an HIA against the required investment. The tool was subject to both internal and external testing. Individuals from eight different countries agreed to participate in testing of the HIA tool. Overall, there was a high level of agreement amongst participants regarding the investment versus value scoring as well as the screening outcome. Ultimately, the iterative development process, along with internal and external testing of the HIA screening tool, proved successful and demonstrates its applicability to a variety of scenarios.