Publications
In recent months, we have been working on various publications that have allowed us to continue to link with the public health community across the country. We contacted the participants of an interprovincial meeting on HIA we held in 2009, to see what has changed in the last two years. We'll use this information to update the publication which followed the 2009 meeting. Feedback from participants also helped us to write a chapter on Health Impact Assessment in Canada for the British author John Kemm, which includes a scan of current HIA activity.

In our effort to share and promote the HIA experiences that occur at all levels of government across the country, we recently published a document called “HIA implementation in Canada: HIA Pilot Project in Montérégie, Québec”. A Fact Sheet on the organizational conditions that are favourable to the implementation of HIA, based on experiences from Canada and abroad, is forthcoming. .

A series of documents on HIA and citizen participation, written by François-Pierre Gauvin and Marie-Christine Ross, is also forthcoming. 

Presentations
The fall season has also brought with it various presentations. In October, Anika Mendell went to Ottawa to present to First Nations and Inuit Health Regional Medical Officers on Health Impact Assessment and its use within these communities.

Louise St-Pierre presented at a knowledge transfer activity organized by the Groupe d'étude sur les politiques et la santé (GEPPS) with representatives of various ministries regarding the implementation and institutionalization of HIA in the Québec government. 

Projects in the making
Currently, we are busy writing documents to be published in 2012. Anika Mendell and Val Morrison, in collaboration with the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH), are working on a document which explores various approaches to achieving healthy public policy and health equity through tools such as Equity-focused Health Impact Assessment (EFHIA), equity centres, etc.

Anika and Louise are also presently writing a Background Paper on the theoretical underpinnings of knowledge transfer in the context of HIA, with the help of Florence Morestin. We are also in the process of developing an HIA course that will be offered online, in collaboration with the Insitut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) and Dr. Richard Massé (University of Montréal). Finally, training sessions are also being planned, using both webinar technology to get familiar with HIA and face-to-face activities for more in-depth training.

In the coming months, we will begin exploratory work on HIA with First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis communities. Finally, preparation has begun for the International HIA Conference that will be held in Québec City in August 2012, and hosted by Québec's Ministry of Health and Social Services.

Image: © iStockphoto.com/Brent Davis