A Model of Health Impact Assessment for the Sub District Municipality: A Case Study of the Songkhla Lake Basin

AbstractThe objective of this study was to develop a health impact assessment model for the sub district municipality in the Songkhla Lake Basin. This qualitative research consists of 3 phases as follows. The first phase was documentary research, where the objective was to examine the HIA model. The second phase was to modify the model, and the objective was to develop and refine the model of the HIA by specialists. The final phase was participatory action research, and here the aim was to develop and improve the appropriate model for the sub district municipality. The study areas comprised of 21 sub district municipalities in the Songkhla Lake Basin. The study data collected by using participatory observation, in-depth interview, and focus group discussion, all of which finally analyzed using the content analysis method.The results of the first phase revealed that a possible model for the HIA for the subdistrict municipality in Songkhla Lake Basin was as follows. The first model was the model of the HIA for integrating the HIA process regarding policy or project development. The second model was the model of the HIA for the subdistrict municipality, where there were serious health impacts or community conflicts, or there were uncertain health impacts from project implementation. The third model was the community health impact assessment model [CHIA]. The results of this study will improve the subdistrict municipality in terms of applying or conducting the HIA for the importance of public health policy and the people's well being