Federation of Swedish County of Councils

Abstract

How is children's health affected by a political decision? What happens in the short and long term? Are there any alternatives? Questions of this kind have become topical in Swedish work on health impact assessments of policy proposals. The aims with HIA are to systematize expertise in the arena of health/ill-health an to develop tools for health impact assessment. Using these tools, the health consequences of proposed policy decisions can be weighed against other effects before a decision is taken. So that the public, and especially exposed groups, can make their voices heard in work with health impact assessment, a number of so-called "reference" groups have been engaged to discuss what health means for them. The tool, which has been developed, has three components, ranging from a few strategic questions to a more developed analytic model. In-between, there is a matrix that is used to test what a decision may entail with regard to certain conditions, such as impact in various groups in the short and long term. The tool is available on the Internet. One major advantage of presenting the tool electronically is the possibility for people to adjust the tool to their own needs.

Keywords

Health impact Assessment, Policy Decisions

Institution

Federation of Swedish County of Councils

Postaddress

Box 70 491

Postcode

SE-107 26

City

Stockholm

Country

Sweden

Contact

Berensson Karin

E-mail

kab@lf.se

Phone

+ 46 8 702 45 40

Fax

+ 46 8 702 43 18