Resources

20 years of the Wales Health Impact Assessment Support Unit (WHIASU) and the evolution of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in Wales

The 20th anniversary of WHIASU marks two decades of advancing HIA as a vital tool for healthier decision-making and reducing health inequalities in Wales. Established in 2004, WHIASU has led the way in enabling the integration of HIA into policy at local, regional and national levels.

The timeline highlights key milestones, documents, and publications in WHIASU’s history and the practice of HIA in Wales. Looking ahead, WHIASU will continue to champion HIA and Health in All Policies (HiAP), supporting public bodies in implementing upcoming HIA regulations under the Public Health Act (Wales) Act 2017.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: The Commercial Determinants of Health: Children and Young People Report 49

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.
In focus: The Commercial Determinants of Health: Children and Young People

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Reports Summary Calendar April 2023 to March 2024

This summary calendar, the fourth to be published, presents a short and interactive overview of the five International Horizon Scanning Reports from 2023-2024, with themes including:

• Universal primary free school meals
• Mental health and well-being of refugees and asylum-seekers
• Five essential conditions for health equity
• Embedding prevention in primary and community care
• Impact of poverty on babies, children and young people

Public Health Wales: Our International Health Strategy 2023-2035

Public Health Wales has updated its 2017 International Health Strategy to better reflect the significant changes in the global landscape and to enable Public Health Wales’ new Long-Term Strategy.

Welsh Health Equity Solutions Platform (WHESP)

The Welsh Health Equity Solutions Platform will act as a repository of information, case studies, and previous interventions used to help combat inequity and share good practice in Wales.
The platform features searchable data tools and a report-generating function which allows users to input their search terms and produce outputs related to those terms. The platform also offers a spotlight feature that can be used to highlight particular solutions or themes.
The team will develop the platform over time to add additional content and features.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Summary Calendar 2022/23

This International Horizon Scanning and Learning Summary Calendar is the third in the series, following the Summary Calendars from 2020/21 and 2021/22. This Summary Calendar has collated, synthesised, and presented a clear and concise synopsis of the five International Horizon Scanning Reports over the past year, since April 2022 through to March 2023. In addition, the two summary reports (published in 2022) are included. The International Horizon Scanning and Learning work stream has proved to showcase informative and impactful research whilst collating data from other countries and has provided guidance, recommendations, and useful insights regarding the evolving nature and uncertainties of emerging public health topics, which has sought to improve and inform such actions and approaches in Wales.

The summary aims to inform a succinct overview of comprehensive, coherent, inclusive and evidence-informed policy action, which has supported and continues to support the national strategies towards a healthier, more equal, resilient, prosperous and globally responsible Wales. This calendar includes key messages and key recommendations from the high level synthesis pages of each International Horizon Scanning report.

Themes include:
• Intermediate care
• The cost of living crisis
• COVID-proofing the educational environment: 4-18 years
• Early childhood education and care
• Communication campaigns for vaccine acceptance
• The impact of COVID-19 on mental health and increasing vulnerability
• The impact of COVID-19 on increasing the health gap and vulnerability

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: Communication campaigns for vaccine acceptance

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.

In focus: Communication campaigns for vaccine acceptance

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: Early childhood education and care

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.

In focus: Early childhood education and care

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: COVID-proofing the educational environment: 4-18 years

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.

In focus: COVID-proofing the educational environment: 4-18 years

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: The Cost of Living Crisis

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports were initiated as part of the COVID-19 public health response, to support dynamic response and recovery measures and planning in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports was expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health.
In focus: Cost of living crisis

International Horizon Scanning and Learning to Inform Wales’ COVID-19 Public Health Response and Recovery Summary Calendar UPDATE April 2021 – March 2022

International Horizon Scanning and Learning: Summary Calendar UPDATE
This International Horizon Scanning and Learning Summary Calendar is an update from the previous Summary Calendar which can be found here and covered the period of April 2020 through to March 2021. This Summary Calendar has collated, synthesised and presented a clear and concise summary of the COVID-19 International Horizon Scanning Reports over the past year, since April 2021 through to March 2022. The International Horizon Scanning and Learning work stream has proved to showcase informative and impactful research whilst collating data from other countries and has provided guidance, recommendations and useful insights regarding the evolving nature and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has sought to improve and inform such actions and approaches in Wales. The summary aims to inform a succinct overview of comprehensive, coherent, inclusive and evidence-informed policy action, which has supported and continues to support the national strategies towards a healthier, more equal, resilient, prosperous and globally responsible Wales. This calendar includes key messages and key recommendations from the high level synthesis page of each International Horizon Scanning report.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning Report: Intermediate care

The International Horizon Scanning and Learning work stream was initiated as a product of, and to inform upon, the evolving COVID-19 public health response and recovery plans in Wales. In spring 2022, the scope of the reports has been expanded to cover priority public health topics, including in the areas of health improvement and promotion, health protection, and health care public health. This report focuses on intermediate care.

These reports were used during the period of the Covid 19 pandemic in order to inform the Public Health Wales response and therefore only available in English.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning – Summary Report on The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health and Increasing Vulnerability

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to societies, health systems and decision-makers worldwide and has resulted in long-term economic, social and health and well-being impacts. Mental health has been negatively affected across all-age groups exacerbating existing health inequalities.
This report reviews and summarises the international evidence from the International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports on the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 on mental health, mental health services and increasing vulnerability.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning – Summary Report On the impact of COVID-19 on increasing the Health Gap and Vulnerability

This report reviews the international evidence from the International Horizon Scanning and Learning reports on the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 increasing the health gap. It focuses on inequalities and vulnerable groups to better understand and address the unequal distribution of indirect impacts resulting from the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented challenges for populations, health systems and governments worldwide which have resulted in lasting economic, social and health impacts. Health inequities have been exacerbated, with certain population groups disproportionately affected by levels of infection, hospitalisation and deaths from COVID-19. Furthermore, some groups have also experienced unequal indirect impacts resulting from the pandemic and the measures undertaken to contain it. Underlying factors contributing to the unequal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic include but are not limited to, level of deprivation, education, health status and financial resources.

International Horizon Scanning and Learning to Inform Wales’ COVID-19 Public Health Response and Recovery – Summary Calendar

This Summary Calendar has collated, synthesised and presented a clear and concise summary of the COVID-19 International Horizon Scanning Reports over the past year, since April 2020 through to March 2021. The International Horizon Scanning and Learning work stream has proved to showcase informative and impactful research whilst collating data from other countries, providing guidance, recommendations and useful insights regarding the evolving nature and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic.