9^th European Public Health (EPH) conference, [updated:] https://ephconference.eu/conference-2016-vienna-48

Both workshops organized by EUPHA section Health Impact Assessment (HIA). Partial funding for several participants was provided by the University of Bielefeld; many thanks to Prof. C. Hornberg.

From the workshop abstract:

An orientation of foresight and precaution is among the core virtues of Public Health. … Quantitative modeling is meant to help in estimating impacts of developments, policies and interventions, in identifying group differentials, comparing scenarios, ranking interventions, and thus to support governance and decision-making. A range of impact quantification tools are available, providing approaches to strengthen ‘‘foresight’’ awareness, and to contribute to the development of health impact modeling as a component of good Public Health practice. … The current workshop focuses on practical experiences with existing models and tools, compares and critically discusses them, and identifies appropriate steps forward. A range of reallife examples of tool application will be discussed, in the light of the following questions:

• What was the (governance) question or problem that triggered the analysis?
• What model was applied, what data used?
• How were the following issues dealt with: (systemic) interactions, differential impacts/(in)equity, changes over time, uncertainty of estimates, visualization of results?
• How did decision-makers and/or the public react?

Part 1 = Workshop 8.K

Chairs: Johan Mackenbach – Netherlands, Rainer Fehr – Germany

• Modelling the economics of chronic disease with the EConDA tool and the UKHF microsimulation model. Abbygail Jaccard, Laura Webber (UK Health Forum, UK), Presentation: PDF
  
• Risk factor modelling with the Proportional Multi-State Life Table model. Lennert Veerman (U Queensland, AUS), Presentation: PDF
  
• The exposome and Health Impact Assessment. Dimosthenis A Sarigiannis, SP Karakitsios, A Gotti, E Handakas, K Papadaki (Aristotle U of Thessaloniki, GR, and other institutions), Presentation: PDF
  
• Assessing Cancer Control Initiatives in Canada – the Role of CRMM [now: The Oncology Simulation Model OncoSim]. Michael Wolfson (U Ottawa, CAN), Presentation: PDF
  

Key messages:

• The essential Public Health virtues of foresight and precaution call for assessing future impacts on health and disease
• Using impact quantification tools, health impact modeling can develop into a component of good Public Health practice.

Part 2 = Wokshop 9.K

Chairs: Rainer Fehr – Germany, Johan Mackenbach – Netherlands

• Modelling the effect of food and smoking policies on the unequal distribution of the burden of coronary heart disease: IMPACT models. Martin O’Flaherty (U Liverpool, UK), Presentation: PDF
  
• If your mission includes „foresight“, efficient modeling tools are needed. Odile Mekel (LZG.NRW, DE), Rainer Fehr (U Bielefeld, DE), Presentation: PDF
  
• Integrated environmental impact assessment with ECOSENSE – the impact pathway approach. Rainer Friedrich (U Stuttgart, DE), Presentation: PDF
  
• Modeling of health and disease in support of governance and decision-making – Conclusions. Claudia Hornberg, Rainer Fehr (U Bielefeld, DE), Presentation: PDF

Key messages:

• One step towards tapping the potential of health impact modeling for improving the health of the public is broadening the awareness of existing modeling tools and ‘‘good practice’’ examples
• Typifying tasks and challenges at the science–governance interface may help to identify situations in which health impact modeling can be deployed efficiently and successfully.