The Relationship Between Community Development and Health

Conducting health impact assessments (HIAs) can help build collaboration across different organizations within the same community in order to improve public health. For example, community developers are responsible for improving the physical infrastructure of neighborhoods and administering programs and services for residents, while public health practitioners research, identify, and advocate for strategies to address health disparities and improve community health broadly. HIAs can bring these two disciplines together and provide developers with a process to engage the local community and evidence to ensure that decisions will benefit public health.