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SERVICES – COMMUNITY HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc. in partnership with Habitat Health Impact Consulting, offers consultancy services in community health impact assessment.
When plans for the construction and operation of heavy industrial plants or major infrastructure projects are announced, residents of nearby communities often worry about how these projects could affect their health and well-being. Their concern is often focused on contamination of air, water or food sources that could potentially cause disease. These are legitimate concerns, and regulatory approval of new projects requires that potential environmental impacts and subsequent risk to human health be properly assessed, addressed and mitigated through the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process at the provincial and/or federal level in Canada.
However, major projects can affect community health in a wide variety different ways that do not come through the route of environmental contamination. For example, the project may provide employment and income, change the demographic make-up of the local population, alter community infrastructure, provide housing, or change local traffic patterns. Some of these changes can result in improvements in community health, while others pose a risk. Often, the effect depends on how the issue is addressed by the project proponent.
Community health impact assessment is an approach that systematically assesses the full range of ways in which a project is likely to affect health and well-being, and recommends strategies to the community, the project proponent and other stakeholders on how to mitigate harmful effects and enhance benefits to the community. The first step is to accurately gauge the baseline health status of the community to identify important existing issues and as a reference point against which future change can be measured.
Because of its broad, holistic focus, community health impact assessment is uniquely able to identify areas of potential improvements to health, often linked to the socio-economic benefits that may ensue from the project. This enables the project proponent to focus resources on community health programs where the largest and most meaningful impact can be made. |
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| Some community health determinants and outcomes commonly affected by major industrial projects are outlined below. |
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| Factors that influence community health: |
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Employment |
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Income |
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Disparity |
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Working conditions |
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Education |
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Housing |
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Physical environments |
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Environmental contamination |
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Diet, nutrition & physical activity |
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Social capital |
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Personal coping skills |
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Health care resources |
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Community infrastructure |
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| Health outcomes: |
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Mortality |
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Chronic disease |
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Infectious disease |
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Injury |
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Mental health |
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Alcohol & substance abuse |
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The community health impact assessment paradigm incorporates the standard human health risk assessment (HHRA) approach that characterizes the effects of contaminants on human health plus assessment that enables addressing bigger and broader community health issues. Community health impact assessment is often integrated with or linked to other assessment activities, including environmental and socio-economic impact assessments.
The success of the community health impact assessment strongly depends on establishing meaningful community involvement during both the approval stage before the project starts, and after start-up during the operations phase of large projects.
Community Health Impact Experience
Our team has extensive experience in gauging community health and estimating potential impacts. Intrinsik played a major role in the assessment of broad community health concerns related to large industrial operations in Port Colbourne, Ontario, and in the community-wide health risk assessment in Sudbury, Ontario. Recently, Habitat directed the health component of an integrated environmental, health and social assessment for Shell Canada in northern Alberta, and was engaged by the World Health Organization to provide training on health impact assessment for the Ministry of Public Health in Brazil.
Community Health Impact Team
Intrinsik Environmental Sciences Inc.
Dr.Gordon Brown, Ph.D (gbrown@intrinsikscience.com)
Dr. Robert Willes, Ph.D (rwilles@intrinsikscience.com)
Website: www.intrinsikscience.com
Habitat Health Impact Consulting
Ms. Marla Orenstein, MSc (marla@habitatcorp.com)
Dr. Murray Lee, MD (murray@habitatcorp.com)
Website: www.habitatcorp.com
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