Global priorities in HIA research: a new agenda for the next decade.

Background: Health Impact Assessment (HIA) advances Health in All Policies by identifying impacts of proposed actions on health and equity and recommending changes to address these impacts. Since the Gothenburg Consensus Statement in 1999, HIA has been applied to policies, plans, programmes and projects in multiple sectors and settings across the world. Despite demonstrated effectiveness, its use across the world is inconsistent with few nations systematically using HIA.

Health assessments for health governance-concepts and methodologies.

Background: For better supporting the science-governance interface, the potential of health assessments appears underrated.

Aims: To identify what various types of health assessment have in common; how they differ; which assessment(s) to apply for which purpose; and what needs and options there are for future joint development.

Methods: This review is based on five types of health assessment: monitoring/surveillance/reporting, assessment of health impact, of health technology, of health systems performance, health-related economic assessment.

Environmental burden of disease in Europe: assessing nine risk factors in six countries.

Background: Environmental health effects vary considerably with regard to their severity, type of disease, and duration. Integrated measures of population health, such as environmental burden of disease (EBD), are useful for setting priorities in environmental health policies and research. This review is a summary of the full Environmental Burden of Disease in European countries (EBoDE) project report.

Is telemonitoring an option against shortage of physicians in rural regions? Attitude towards telemedical devices in the North Rhine-Westphalian health survey, Germany.

Background: General practitioners (GP) in rural areas of Germany are struggling to find successors for their private practices. Telemonitoring at home offers an option to support remaining GPs and specialists in ambulatory care.

Methods: We assessed the knowledge and attitude towards telemedicine in the population of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, in a population-based telephone survey.

Health status of 'Ruhr-City' in 2025--predicted disease burden for the metropolitan Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Background: Demographic change is a driving force of disease burden. The German population is aging and simultaneously shrinking, due to a rising life expectancy and a declining fertility rate. North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is the most populous federal state of Germany including the Ruhr metropolitan area.