- Policy & Research
The Ripple Effect: Ways to Make Health in All Policies Stick in Kansas and Beyond to Enhance Health and Equity
17 Min Read
Mar 26, 2024
Health in All Policies Technical Assistance Hub
Welcome to the Kansas Health Institute’s Health in All Policies Technical Assistance (HiAP) Hub. The purpose of HiAP is to ensure that policies and decisions, regardless of the sector, are designed with health and well-being at their core. Engaging with the HiAP Technical Assistance Hub allows stakeholders — governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, communities and the private sector — to understand how to make informed decisions, develop effective processes, leverage partnerships and implement projects that align with this holistic health approach. For more than a decade, the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) has been at the forefront of HiAP, assessing and projecting the health impacts of policies, facilitating workshops both within Kansas and nationwide and creating innovative tools to empower others in advancing HiAP initiatives.
Develop and deliver Health in All Policies (HiAP) workshops tailored to the specific needs of your organization or community.
Offer trainings designed to bolster the ability to consider health in a more holistic manner across decisions, plans, processes and policies. This is achieved through enhancing proficiency in tools, including the Health Impact Checklist and Health Lens Analysis.
Assist in developing internal processes for integrating these tools into organizational or community processes.
Assist in establishing a HiAP task force or steering committee.
Develop and deliver a HiAP curriculum tailored for high school and college students.
Support the development of HiAP policies and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) by the organization or community.
Assist in developing HiAP job descriptions or incorporating HiAP principles into existing job roles.
Take the lead in developing or partner in creating tools and materials focused on HiAP.
KHI provides technical assistance to six communities under the Pathways to a Healthy Kansas Initiative, which is funded by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS). This assistance encompasses helping communities establish a Health in All Policies (HiAP) Task Force and utilizing a Health Impact Checklist (HI-C) to assess the health implications of various decisions, including those related to housing. Additionally, KHI focuses on building stakeholder capacity in conducting health and equity lens analyses. This involves evaluating how health and equity considerations are integrated within documents, guidance and protocols, and providing recommendations for improvement. Moreover, KHI supports the development of HiAP policies at the organizational, city and county levels, and actively works to incorporate HiAP principles into other initiatives, such as Food and Farm Councils.
KHI conducted Health in All Policies (HiAP), Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Health Impact Checklist (HI-C) workshops in Kansas and nationally in partnership with Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trust and the National Network of Public Health Institutes. Workshops, conducted both in person and virtually, were held in Bourbon, Cowley, Crawford, Douglas, Franklin, McPherson, Reno, Riley, Shawnee, Sedgwick and Wyandotte counties and nationwide (e.g., Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Rhode Island and New York). The audiences included local health departments and state health department, health coalitions, hospitals, elected officials and representatives from varies sectors. The goals were to cultivate a deep understanding of the HiAP approach, emphasizing its fundamental principles and the importance of integrating health considerations into the decision-making and processes of diverse sectors. Additionally, participants were provided with practical strategies for HiAP implementation and collaborated to identify opportunities for integrating HiAP practices into their organizational or community initiatives.
KHI developed several tools (Health Impact Checklist Tool (HI-C) and Health Lens Analysis) aimed at enhancing the capacity for a comprehensive health perspective in decision-making, planning, process development and policy formulation. Other resources include a guide with practical lessons for individuals interested in conducting Health Impact Assessments (HIA), and ideas for framing and communicating about Health in All Policies, which is a joint product with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, and a guide to communicate about equity in HIAs.
KHI partners with the Department of Population Health at the University of Kansas School of Medicine to provide guest lectures on Health in All Policies (HiAP) to masters-level public health students. The lectures introduce HiAP concepts and demonstrate the use of the Health Impact Checklist as a way to examine potential positive and negative health and equity impacts of policies. Building student capacity in recognizing, assessing,and communicating these impacts could help shape future public health leaders. For more information about the collaboration, read Guest Lectures: Increasing Student Knowledge of Health in All Policies by Using the Health Impact Checklist, which was published in the Chronicles of Health Impact Assessment (CHIA), a journal published by the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University-Purdue University.
KHI has conducted assessments to identify potential health effects of policies related to topics such as casinos, transportation, liquor licensing, medical marijuana, agriculture, and water.
Tatiana Y. Lin, M.A., Director of Business Strategy and Innovation, spearheads business development operations and champions the advancement of KHI’s mission through innovative initiatives and programs. She collaborates with a diverse range of public, private and philanthropic partners.
Wyatt J. Beckman, M.P.H., C.H.E.S., Senior Analyst, provides research and technical support related to our work on population health.
Sheena L. Schmidt, M.P.P., Senior Analyst, provides research and policy analysis related to our work on a broad portfolio of health-related topics.
Samiyah Para-Cremer Moore, M.Sc., Senior Analyst, specializes in population health research, including food security research, program evaluation, community engagement and the incorporation of health equity considerations into decision making.
Theresa Freed, M.A., Director of Strategic Communication and Engagement, leads the Communications division within KHI. She oversees media relations, graphics, digital communications (web, social and audio/video production), convening logistics, marketing and brand management.
Kari M. Bruffett became President and CEO of the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) in May 2022. A proven leader with extensive experience in national and state health policy, at KHI she has advanced efforts to support effective policymaking through new and enhanced services while continuing to ensure high-quality, objective research, education and engagement.
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The blog series Transforming Public Health presents a compelling argument for the critical need for public health systems change in advancing our nation’s health. Its primary objective is to distill complex change management theories into actionable solutions tailored specifically for public health leaders and change agents. Through an extensive array of essays, insights and diverse perspectives, Transforming Public Health showcases how leadership, strategy and change management principles can be applied to public health issues. Our goal is to unleash the imagination of public health professionals and to inspire courageous action towards creating the public health system that we need in Kansas and beyond.
Health on the Plains is a Kansas Health Institute podcast, hosted by Wyatt Beckman, KHI senior analyst. The podcast was launched in 2023, with a focus on health and well-being in rural Kansas. Episodes include engaging and nuanced conversations around topics impacting the health of individuals in less populated parts of the state. Episodes are released twice monthly and include guests representing a wide range of backgrounds who are focused on improving health for Kansans. Although conversation is focused on Kansas, topics are relevant to anyone living in rural America. The podcast is also available as a webcast on YouTube.
The Health Impact Checklist (HI-C) was designed to inform decisions at many levels (e.g., organizational, city, county and state). It asks a series of questions and uses a combination of check boxes and written responses to connect potential changes in social, economic and environmental conditions with potential health impacts. Further, the tool guides users as they create practical recommendations to maximize potential positive health impacts and mitigate potential negative health impacts.
“We made the decision to embark on the Health in All Policies to ensure our strategic planning process was equitable towards the needs of our entire community. Our goal is to serve the community as a whole and the HiAP process helped ensure we were taking into consideration the needs and interests of all individuals within our community.” Levi Meyer, CPRP, Executive Director, Ottawa Recreation Commission
“In order to fully understand and address community wide health conditions effecting children in Cowley County a purposeful examination of health indicators was performed by implementing a “data walk.” People that participated questioned what could be done to overcome the systemic problems examined. Adopting “Health in all policies” across multiple sectors, such as local government, education and private industry was considered the best place to focus efforts that would provide long-term solutions. Since beginning the HiAP process we have been able to perform focused research, engage in meaningful conversations with decision makers and have begun to educate the community on the importance of making informed policy decisions focused on health. We are looking forward to seeing improvements in community health as our efforts continue.” Thomas Langer, MPA, Administrator – Public Health Officer, City-Cowley County Health Department
“We embraced Health in All Policies (HiAP) as our approach to decision-making in April 2019. It was then that we recognized decisions made by governmental bodies and agencies were having harmful health impacts on residents in the northeast part of our community. FHWC made a commitment to helping others understand the importance of considering the health implications of their decisions to improve population health and health equity. Our efforts have resulted in elected officials being more thoughtful when making planning and zoning decisions, when considering whether to direct more resources to parks and recreation programming and when deciding to make all county parks smokefree. Our example has caused other nonprofit agencies and community groups to consider health implications when advocating for or against a community issue, particularly if equity is the matter to be addressed.” Debbie Nuss, Flint Hills Wellness Coalition Director