In November 2021, the Region was selected by the Health Foundation to be part of its Economies for Healthier Lives funding programme aimed at strengthening relationships between economic development and public health.
The project being developed by Glasgow City Region, supported by £347,000 of funding, will create an innovative new ‘CHIIA’ (Capital Investment Health Inequalities Impact Assessment) tool. This tool, once complete, will be used in the development and delivery of capital infrastructure projects at various stages to ensure that decisions made at every level focus on maximising benefits for local communities, including reducing health inequalities.
About
At the heart of the Health Foundation’s Economies for Healthier Lives programme is the recognition that good health has social and economic value for individuals, society and the economy and is an enabler of prosperous and flourishing societies.
Good health relies not only on effective health care services, but on a range of wider determinants of health, including people’s socioeconomic circumstances.
The strong links between health and the economy mean that there is an opportunity to use economic development activity to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.
Glasgow City Region City Deal is Scotland’s largest growth initiative based on improving infrastructure assets.
We believe that there is scope to maximise the economic and health benefits of this investment, not just when these new assets become operational, but throughout their delivery phase.
The project is supported by our Community Panel who will help to shape the design and delivery of the CHIIA tool.
Project Partners
Project Development
Development of the tool is following the Appreciative Inquiry model of action research; this follows a four-stage approach:
- Discovery – Appreciative Inquiry: active desk-based research and interviews to support a better understanding of existing processes;
- Dream – Development cohort: a series of thematic sessions including key stakeholders from across the Region, subject matter experts, and communities to develop a prototype of the CHIIA tool;
- Design – Piloting and refining the CHIIA tool: piloting the tool on projects of various sizes and stages of development;
- Destiny – Embedding and disseminating of the CHIIA tool; once refined, the tool will begin to be embedded into Regional decision-making processes.
Current Stage
The project is currently at the design stage with work underway to develop an initial prototype of the tool. In August 2023, a stakeholder engagement workshop was held to share key learning from the first phase of the project, reflect on key learning and start to shape the feature and outputs of the toolkit.
Evaluation of the project is ongoing and is being undertaken locally by Glasgow Centre for Population Health (GCPH) and nationally by Renaisi.
For more information, contact Sonia Milne, Project Manager, Economies for Healthier Lives on e-mail: sonia.milne@glasgow.gov.uk or mobile: 07469 400050.
Supporting Documents
