Health in All Policies in Denver, CO: Moving from Plans to Equitable Development Outcomes

Abstract

The City of Denver’s Departments of Public Health and Environment and Community Planning and Development have worked together using Health Impact Assessments (HIA) and Health in All Policies (HiAP) frameworks to formalize using a health equity lens for city planning and resource prioritization. Previous land use and transportation planners did not consider health or equity impacts on future growth and development. HIAs and a health-focused approach were initiated with neighborhood planning and expanded into the Blueprint Denver plan for land use and transportation. The Neighborhood Equity Index was also developed to help city agencies prioritize financial and programmatic resources to be more equitable. Lessons learned from the process include the need to develop relationships across organizations, more data and mapping can inform policy decisions and the need for health and equity champions inside and outside of organizations.