Incorporating Health Impact Assessment into Community Design and Transportation Decisions

The design of the built environment, including land use and transportation decisions, affects health in many ways, including its impacts on physical activity, air quality, motor vehicle and pedestrian injuries, social capital, mental health, and environmental justice. The February Hot Topics in Preparedness session will look at health impact assessment, a new tool that can improve communication between public health professionals and urban planners, transportation planners, and other decision makers so that health issues are more likely to be considered in decisions about community design.