Enabling factors and barriers for the use of health impact assessment in decision-making processes

Summary 

Objective

To identify key stakeholders’ views of factors that may enable or limit the use of health impact assessment (HIA) in the decision-making processes within their organizations.

Methods

In-depth interviews were carried out with 14 key informants from local and regional stakeholder organizations.

Setting

North East of England, 2005.

Results

Three emergent themes were identified: leadership in HIA; integration of HIA with existing organizational structures; and joint working between key stakeholder organizations.

Conclusions

With the exception of a ‘leadership vacuum’ that had not been described previously, the present findings on factors that enable or limit the use of HIA in decision making by organizations in the region are consistent with those reported previously in the literature. In the absence of a nationally defined regulatory and organizational framework for HIA practice, key stakeholders’ views on factors that promote or hinder the use of HIA in the decision-making process of their organizations may be pivotal in advancing HIA practice in the region.

Keywords: Health impact assessment, Decision making, Organizations, Barriers, Enablers