Parks and Trails Health Impact Assessment

Appendix A – Method used to develop toolkit content

Parks HIA Toolkit – Development Process

1. We scanned HIAs that had been completed by the spring of 2013, and identified and reviewed in depth 11 HIAs related to parks, greenspace, and trails. We used these HIAs as the primary source material for this Toolkit.
2. We extracted key recommendations made by practitioners and the references they used.
3. We organized the strategies into three layers:
   1. Layer one – overarching strategy themes associated with health outcomes
   2. Layer two – broad recommendations (what the literature base supports)
   3. Layer thre – examples of specific recommendations
4. Evidence-base data we used to identify strategies:
   1. Peer Reviewed Literature
      1) Primarily, systematic reviews and meta-analysis identified during the scan of the source HIAs, supplemented by material found in:
        i. Green Cities: Good Health
        ii. Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Report on Built Environment + Physical Activity
   2. Federal Recommendations/Strategies/Reports
      1) CDC’s Community Guide
      2) CDC’s Transportation + Health Recommendations [PDF - 388 KB]
      3) National Prevention Strategy [PDF - 4.6 MB]
      4) National Obesity Taskforce
      5) America's Great Outdoors
   3. Literature from Supporting Organizations
      1) Trust for Public Lands
      2) National Recreation and Park Association
      3) Children & Nature Network
      4) Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals
      5) National Environmental Education Foundation (fact sheet “Children’s Health and Nature”)
      6) Active Living Research
      7) University of Illinois – Landscape and Human Health Laboratory