The Diputació de Barcelona and ISGlobal are collaborating on the creation of a collection of tools to assess the health impact of municipal actions
The Diputació de Barcelona, in collaboration with ISGlobal, has developed a collection of scientifically validated tools to measure and evaluate the effect that interventions in public space and other municipal actions can have on people’s health. This collection is aimed at councils and other municipal entities and has already been tested in the cities of Granollers, Mataró and Viladecans.
About 80 tools to assess the impact on health
This collection includes approximately 80 scientifically validated tools, such as the MWIA program (Mental Well-being Impact Assessment) to assess the impact of a project on mental health or the Pedestrian Environmental Quality Index to inform urban planners about the needs of ways to walk These tools allow councils to determine whether a planned action makes sense to improve well-being and quality of life in the municipality, or to assess the real scope of the health impact of actions already carried out.
Pilot test in Granollers, Mataró and Viladecans
These tools have been put to the test within the framework of the Transformative Project ‘Neighborhoods and communities: engines of social transformation’, promoted by the Provincial Council of Barcelona. A pilot test has been carried out in the municipalities of Granollers, Mataró and Viladecans. For example, in Granollers the Photovoice tool has been used to address loneliness in women of different generations and socio-cultural origins, while in Viladecans the impact on the emotional well-being of the activities organized by the Emotional Space has been evaluated . In Mataró, the MOHAWk tool has been used to assess the impact of the installation of a health park in Parc de Cerdanyola.
Benefits for councils
Using these tools can help councils make informed decisions about municipal actions, improving citizens’ well-being and quality of life. In addition, they make it possible to evaluate the real impact of actions already carried out and to detect the need to energize certain projects to expand their benefits and uses.
