Potential participants
A key aspect of the CHIA screening workshop is ensuring that it involves a range of people with diverse perspectives on health and equalities impacts. The workshop should include people who have knowledge of the proposed project and ideally have been involved in its development. This also increases the likelihood that agreed actions from the CHIA screening workshop will be feasible and that planners will be committed to implementing them.
Getting the right representation at a workshop is an essential part of the process to ensure there is full consideration of potential health and equity impacts for the population groups and health determinants on the health impact checklist. If the right stakeholders are not around the table, their views cannot be captured. The workshop should not just include those people involved in the delivery of the project but should include a range of people representing those who may be affected by the project.
Those involved in the screening workshop will vary by project but the list below includes some different individuals and groups to consider:
- The project lead(s) who are involved in the business case preparation and development.
- The project decision-makers.
- Public health professionals or those with public health knowledge/experience.
- Equality and diversity officers / leads.
- Planning officers, engineers, architects and others directly involved in developing this or similar projects.
- Local authority performance officers/managers.
- Community development officers/managers, or others working in third sector organisations with a community support or development focus.
- Relevant third sector or interest groups, which may include those representing those impacted by a proposal or with expertise in a particular sector, e.g. a disability charity should be involved in transport proposals.
- Members of the communities who will be impacted by the proposal (e.g. tenants organisations, young people's groups, community councils etc.).
- Those with knowledge of the local area, or topic-specific knowledge related to the proposal.
- It is important that the views of young people are also taken into account in the workshop process as they may not be able to attend the screening workshop itself.
Project teams should consider whether the CHIA screening workshop is as inclusive as possible by asking attendees in advance of any requirements they may have in relation to communication support, faith, access, physical mobility or anything else.
Involving community members
- It is important that the CHIA process involves members of the communities that are likely to be affected by the proposal.
- This can be done by involving several community members in the CHIA screening workshop alongside other stakeholders, or by holding a separate workshop for community members, and then bringing together the information gathered (noting any differences) in one report.
- It will not be possible to involve a representative group which reflects all the possible perspectives or experiences of affected communities. However, it is important to make sure to include a broad range of people.
- This may include those who experience intersectional injustice or discrimination and may be less likely to have their views heard.
- The involvement of community members in the CHIA screening workshop is not a replacement for the wider process of consultation or community engagement on a project.
- Further resources are provided on undertaking community engagement more widely as part of any consultation process are provided in 'Community Engagement'.
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