October 2020 Volume 5 Issue 1

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

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This issue of Chronicles of  Health Impact Assessment is centered on the theme of “bridging,” with 
numerous examples of entities working together to assess and improve community health. This 
issue also offers many opportunities for potential replication of successful programs and lessons 
learned from around the country. 

Included in this issue is a book review of “Bridging Silos,” a book that describes best practices 
through the examination of three case studies. Although community health needs may vary 
across the country, successful strategies employed in one community may also be implemented 
effectively elsewhere. An interesting national study of policies and risks associated with motorized 
scooters reveals that there are significant risks for riders and pedestrians, and knowledge of 
policies is generally lacking. There are clear public health implications for e-scooters in our 
country. Another article details a study of policy monitoring, with a focus on communication with 
local health departments and identification of potential health impact assessment opportunities. 
An informative article describes an HIA Learning Collaborative, designed to improve the ability 
of community partners to effectively implement HIAs, an idea which may be replicated in other 
communities. Finally, this issue includes an article featuring a description of how local, state, and 
federal entities can work together to improve the built environment and improve community health. 

We continue to need more volunteers to be peer reviewers. Being a peer reviewer is a time sensitive 
process as we have a goal to have the comments and suggestions back to the authors within a 
month of consenting to be a reviewer. As a peer reviewer, you are providing valuable feedback on 
how to make the article more useful and easier to comprehend. We have included the application to 
be a peer reviewer at the end of  this issue. Additionally, if you would like to be a guest editor in the 
future, please submit your name and the topic you would like to write about and recruit at least two 
additional articles to me at cylstone@iu.edu. 

We hope you have a great fall. 

Cynthia Stone, CHIA Editor

Carol Mills, Community Engagement Associate for CHIA