Policy and Practice: Rapid Health Impact Assessment (HIA) as a Leadership Tool

DNP students at the Henry Predolin School of Nursing completed a Rapid Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on a proposed policy and model of care change for the Wisconsin Well Woman Program as part of the Population Health and Public Policy class.  The results and recommendations were disseminated to key stakeholders to inform and impact policy decisions and mitigate unintended consequences of proposed policy changes.  A rapid Health Impact Assessment (HIA) uses structured data, stakeholder feedback, professional expertise, and analytic methods to analyze complex effects of policy, practice, and programs on health.  Use of HIA's been increasing in the public health sector.  This tool provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to the analysis of complex health data sets to drive informed policy and practice decisions.  The HIA process was applied to a current state policy decision resulting in active learning and recommendations for policy, practice, and program configuration.  The use of a rapid HIA links to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Essentials, and is an effective leadership tool used to support decision making and policy.  The HIA provides a comprehensive and systematic approach to the assessment of health and illness parameters.  It is an effective tool to evaluate the impact of decisions on health and wellness.