Health Impact Assessment, Physical Activity and Federal Lands Trail Policy.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this paper are to describe the application of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to inform trail decisions affecting a rural, under-resourced community and propose the routine integration of HIAs to enhance NEPA environmental assessments and environmental impact statements for trail decisions on federal lands. METHODS: Screening, scoping, assessment, recommendations, reporting, monitoring and evaluation are being used to examine the health impact of trail location and design. RESULTS: HIA recommendations are being integrated into the public lands National Environmental Protection Act process for planning access to a new segment of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail. Potential users from a nearby rural New Mexico community and a region of almost one million may benefit from this HIA-informed planning. CONCLUSIONS: HIA can be integrated into the policy and decision-making process for trails on public lands.

The New Mexico Clinical Prevention Initiative: a statewide prevention partnership.

The New Mexico Department of Health and the New Mexico Medical Society invited organizations to participate in an initiative to promote clinical preventive services. The Clinical Preventive Initiative (CPI) focuses on the following interventions based on burden of illness, preventability of the condition, cost, current level of services, availability of leadership, and programmatic support: adult pneumococcal vaccination, tobacco use prevention and cessation, mammography screening, colorectal cancer screening, healthier weight, screening and treatment for chlamydia and gonorrhea, screening and intervention for problem drinking, childhood immunization, and prevention of unintended pregnancy. Specific workgroups plan and implement interventions directed at New Mexico medical practices, practitioners, and health-care systems. Several state measures suggest effectiveness of CPI efforts. CPI is a successful public-private collaboration providing an active forum for statewide clinical prevention policy development, an effective mechanism to achieve greater awareness of prevention and improved delivery of preventive services.