Extending the QALY beyond health – the EQ-HWB (Health and well-being)

Professor John Brazier

Join us online for a monthly online masterclass by one of our health research experts based in The School of Health and Related Research

Join the live session by clicking the link below

https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/fbae374ad6ed4eeea1ed792b69c

Abstract
Measures for estimating Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) (e.g. EQ-5D, SF-6D) attempt to capture the health of patients but miss broader wellbeing considerations such as autonomy and relationships that are important to patients and users of social care. Furthermore these measures do not consider the impact on carers’ quality of life. This limitation of existing measures led to the joint MRC and Euroqol Research Foundation funded Extending the QALY (E-QALY) project.
On behalf of the E-QALY team, John Brazier will describe the idea for a new and broader measure of health and wellbeing (i.e. why it was needed) for use in health and social care, some of the conceptual issues encountered and how they were approached in a large international programme of work. He will also present the mixed methods empirical work to develop the new measure called the EQ Health and WellbeingTM (EQ-HWB). Please come along and join in the discussion about the empirical research and the policy questions this new measure raises.
Bio
John Brazier is a Professor of Health Economics in the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield. He was the first Director of the Economic Evaluation Policy Research Unit (EEPRU) which is a joint Sheffield and York Unit funded by the Department of Health in England to undertake applied and methodological research to inform health policy in England. Professor Brazier is currently a NIHR Senior Investigator (Emeritus).
Professor Brazier has more than 25 years’ experience of conducting economic evaluations of health care interventions for policy makers and has published over 200 peered reviewed papers. His special interest is in the measurement and valuation of health for economic evaluation where he has published widely.
Perhaps best known for his work in developing a preference-based measure of health for the SF-36 (SF-6D), but with colleagues he has further developed and extended these methods to a number of specific condition including measures in asthma, cancer, overactive bladder, diabetes, mental health, dementia and epilepsy.
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/people/staff/john-e-brazier
John Brazier on Twitter

Unlocking linked real-world data presents opportunities to improve public health

The COVID-19 pandemic has surfaced the potential and risks of linked real world datasets to accelerate and produce new improvements in public health.

In this post, originally published by LSE, Matthew Franklin, Dan Howden, Suzanne Mason, Tony Stone and Monica Jones outline the opportunities and challenges of using real world data as part of the 'Unlocking data to inform public health policy and practice' project.

Highlighting the ethical and practical challenges of accessing this data, they argue that investing in and developing trust across those involved in the formation of real world data is critical to its effective use

Photo from Flickr: Marco Verch Professional Photographer (CC by 2.0)

ScHARR Mini Master Class - Undertaking data-centric healthcare research - Tuesday 18th January 2022

Undertaking data-centric healthcare research: Experiences from urgent & emergency care systems
Professor Susan Mason
Tuesday 18th January 2022

Join us online for a monthly online masterclass by one of our health research experts based in The School of Health and Related Research

About this event

Join the live session by clicking the link below.https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/fbae374ad6ed4eeea1ed792b69cc2b6c

Title

Undertaking data-centric healthcare research: Experiences from urgent & emergency care systems

Presenter

Professor Suzanne Mason

(Professor of Emergency Care)

Abstract

This talk will focus on the importance of developing real world data systems for research, the value it can bring to research and the importance for improving the health and care of populations. I will talk about my own research journey using real-world data relating to urgent and emergency care. I will describe the challenges involved in managing the governance and data acquisition hurdles, describing how we developed linked datasets and provide some examples of how it helps us to understand and improve the system.

Bio

Professor Mason qualified in medicine from London University in 1990 and then trained initially in surgery and then specialised in Emergency Medicine.

From there she spent a year as a Royal College of Surgeons of England Research Fellow and was awarded an MD whilst undertaking higher training in Emergency Medicine.

Professor Mason joined Sheffield University as a Senior Clinical Lecturer in 2001, was promoted to Reader in 2007 and professor in 2010. She divides her time between the university and as a consultant at the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust emergency department.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/people/staff/suzanne-mason

https://twitter.com/profsuemason

ScHARR Mini Master Class in Health Research - Alcohol and Pricing - Tuesday 7th December

 

Join us online for a monthly online masterclass by one of our health research experts based in The School of Health and Related Research

Alcohol and pricing: 

Beyond modelling to evaluation and duty reform

Professor John Holmes  

Director of the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group and Lead Director of the Wellcome Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decision Science

Abstract
Alcohol remains a major cause of ill health, and deaths due to alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic heighten this concern. This presentation will explore the role of alcohol prices as a driver of alcohol-related health problems and a target for public health responses. After setting out the evidence on key pricing trends and concerns, the presentation will describe emerging evidence suggesting positive effects of minimum unit pricing in Scotland and the Australian Northern Territory. It will also explore the Government’s ongoing alcohol duty review and the potential for radical policy change if the Government follows through on its suggestions.

Bio
John is the Director of the Sheffield Alcohol Research Group and Lead Director of the Wellcome Doctoral Training Centre in Public Health Economics and Decision Science. He completed his training in the University of York’s Social Policy department with a thesis focused on inequalities, risks and opportunities associated with young people’s internet use. He then spent one-year researching child poverty and well-being. Since 2010, he has worked at the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) at the University of Sheffield, where he has contributed key epidemiological evidence and policy analyses to national and international alcohol policy debates. In particular, he has worked on minimum unit pricing (MUP), other pricing policies and low risk drinking guidelines. He currently leads an evaluation of the impact of MUP on harmful drinkers in Scotland, research on drinking occasions, practices and culture, and a Wellcome Investigator Award examining the sharp decline in youth drinking.

Join the live session by clicking the link below.

https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/fbae374ad6ed4eeea1ed792b69cc2b6c

The live session takes place in a Collaborate webinar - headphones are advisable and easy to set up. You can join with a computer, tablet or smartphone, Chrome and Firefox offer the best browser experience.

You can also use a phone to handle audio while in the session by dialling +44 2033 189610 and entering the PIN: 398 583 2702.
We look forward to seeing you online.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/people/staff/john-holmes
https://twitter.com/jholmessheff

Job vacancy - Research Associate in Public Health Economic Modelling

We have a job opportunity in HEDS for a Research Associate in Public Health Economic Modelling

Image CC BY 2.0 GotCredit https://bit.ly/3tUI78k

Reference Number: UOS028752
Salary: Grade 7
Details: Full-time and fixed-term for 12 months
Closing Date: Monday 28 June

You will work on applied and methodological research projects relating to public health economic modelling of interventions with a particular focus initially on a project around school age interventions to prevent mental health problems in children and young people. More information can be found here

ScHARR Mini Master Class in Health Research - Measuring and Valuing Health for Children and Adolescents - Dr Philip Powell & Dr Donna Rowen - 15th June 2021 13:00 - 14:00 BST

Join us online for a monthly online masterclass by one of our health research experts based in The School of Health and Related Research

ScHARR Mini Master Class in Health Research

About this Event

Measuring and Valuing Health for Children and Adolescents
Tue, 15 June 2021, 13:00 – 14:00 BST

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/measuring-and-valuing-health-for-children-and-adolescents-tickets-152383012693

Healthcare treatments and vaccinations can be expensive, but healthcare systems have limited budgets. The allocation of these budgets requires us to measure health and put a value on how good or bad different states of health are. There are accepted methods for measuring and valuing adult health, but this is not the case for children and adolescents. Neither is it the case that methods used for adults can be uncritically applied to younger people. Instead, this talk will explore why it is necessary to think differently when measuring and valuing health for children; what conceptual, methodological, and normative issues the process raises; and what the potential solutions are. This is the subject of ongoing research being conducted in ScHARR and elsewhere globally. Questions for researchers include who should report how a child is feeling? What aspects of child health are important? Who should decide which aspects of child health are most important? What methods should be used to put a value on child and adolescent health? In this talk we will address these questions and more as we review the current state-of-the-art thinking into the measurement and valuation of child health.

Bios

Philip Powell

Philip Powell is a Research Fellow in the School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), University of Sheffield and part of the ScHARR Outcomes team (https://scharr.dept.shef.ac.uk/outcomes/). He has a research background in Psychology, but has worked in the field of economics (and health economics) for over 7 years, now specialising in outcomes research. Philip uses mixed methods in his research and has interest and expertise in the development of new measures for assessing quality of life in specific health conditions, including in children and rare diseases. He also conducts methodological research in the measurement and valuation of health and quality of life, with recent projects exploring the normative, methodological, and practical aspects of how health states are valued for children and adolescents.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/people/staff/philip-powell

https://twitter.com/philapowell

Donna Rowen

Donna Rowen is a Senior Research Fellow in ScHARR, University of Sheffield and part of the ScHARR Outcomes team (https://scharr.dept.shef.ac.uk/outcomes/). Donna is a member of the Department of Health and Social Care Policy Research Unit in the Economic Methods of Evaluation of Health and Care Interventions, and has been involved in methods research for the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Decision Support Unit. Donna’s main research interests lie in measuring and valuing health, in particular valuing health across different populations and conditions, using different modes of administration (for example online or face-to-face), elicitation techniques and analyses. Donna has led recent projects in valuing health for children in the Netherlands and examining the performance of different child and adolescent health instruments.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/people/staff/donna-rowen

ScHARR Mini Master Class in Health Research #11 - Promoting vegetable intake in preschool children: barriers and potential solutions - Dr Sam Caton - 12th May - 1-2pm UK time.

Join us online for a monthly online masterclass by one of our health research experts based in The School of Health and Related Research

About this Event

Promoting vegetable intake in preschool children: barriers and potential solutions

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/promoting-vegetable-intake-in-preschool-children-dr-sam-caton-tickets-148050931321

Abstract:
Diets rich in plant-based foods confer benefits for planetary and human health. Despite this, adults and children do not consume the recommended daily amount of vegetables. This presentation will explore several key issues; why do some children dislike vegetables, do we learn to like? and how can we increase vegetable intake in preschool children?

Bio:
Sam graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology at the University of Leeds before undertaking a M.Med.Sci in Human Nutrition at the University of Sheffield. She gained her PhD at the University of Liverpool which focused on the effects of alcohol on food intake. Sam held post-doctoral positions internationally and nationally; Germany (Ludwig Maximillians Universität, Munich, Department of Endocrinology), USA (Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, Department of Psychology) and in the UK (University of Leeds, Institute of Psychological Sciences), before joining the ScHARR Public Health in 2013. Sam is currently a senior lecturer in Public Health, and an associate director at the Institute for Sustainable Food at the University of Sheffield, Co-leading the “Food consumption, Health and Sustainability” research theme. Her work focuses broadly on the promotion of healthful and sustainable diets.

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/people/staff/samantha-caton
https://twitter.com/samanthacaton

Join the live session by clicking the link below.

https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/fbae374ad6ed4eeea1ed792b69cc2b6c

The live session takes place in a Collaborate webinar - headphones are advisable and easy to set up. You can join with a computer, tablet or smartphone, Chrome and Firefox offer the best browser experience. You can also use a phone to handle audio while in the session by dialling +44 2033 189610 and entering the PIN: 398 583 2702.

We look forward to seeing you online.

ScHARR Mini Master Class in Health Research #3 - Dr Andrew Lee - Public health in action: Pandemic response to Covid-19 - 11th September, 1pm

Join us online for a monthly online masterclass by one of our health research experts based in The School of Health and Related Research.

Register your place here

About this Event

Public health in action: Pandemic response to Covid-19

Dr Andrew Lee

Abstract
Infectious diseases are an age-old threat to human populations with the power to disrupt societies and cause considerable death and disability. With a focus on the current COVID19 pandemic, we will look at the public health approaches to tackling outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics. We will reflect on some of the emerging lessons learned, explore both the short- and longer-term impacts of this pandemic for the UK, and consider how the pandemic is likely to unfold in the coming years.

Bio
Andrew is a Reader of Global Public Health in ScHARR. Following paediatric and tropical medicine training, he worked overseas running primary health care and tuberculosis control programmes in Afghanistan, as well as in disaster response (e.g. Asian tsunami disaster, 2009 post-cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, 2013 Typhoon Haiyan). He is dual trained in general practice and public health in the UK, and previously worked for many years with Public Health England as a consultant in communicable disease control. He is currently a director of primary care and population health, and has been heavily involved in the health sector response to COVID19.

Links

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/scharr/people/staff/andrew-lee

https://twitter.com/andrewleedr


Join the live session by clicking the link below.

https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/fbae374ad6ed4eeea1ed792b69cc2b6c

The live session takes place in a Collaborate webinar - headphones are advisable and easy to set up. You can join with a computer, tablet or smartphone, Chrome and Firefox offer the best browser experience. You can also use a phone to handle audio while in the session by dialling +44 2033 189610 and entering the PIN: 398 583 2702.

We look forward to seeing you online.

7 scholarships on our Doctoral Training Programme in Public Health, Health Economics & Decision Science funded by the Wellcome Trust

https://wellcome.ac.uk/

Applications are now open for 7 scholarships on our Doctoral Training Programme in Public Health, Health Economics & Decision Science funded by the Wellcome Trust 

https://pheds-dtc.ac.uk/  

• The scheme is open to UK applicants and applicants from lower- and middle income countries on the OECD's ODA list. The scholarship covers home or international tuition fees, stipend and research costs. 
• Applicants need a 2.1 or above (or international equivalent), and either a masters degree or equivalent research experience. 
• One scholarship is earmarked for a UK applicant meeting a widening participation criteria. 
• Current applicants come from many disciplinary backgrounds including mathematics, statistics, economics, public health, psychology, sociology, social policy, health economics, international development, engineering, business studies, politics, medicine, physics, human geography

Closing date 1 January 2020, programme starts autumn 2020

HEDS researchers collaborate on new SIPHER consortium to drive policy reform and tackle health inequalities

https://sipher.ac.uk/

A new national public health research consortium, co-led by Professor Petra Meier from ScHARR's Public Health section, is set to drive policy reform in order to tackle inequalities and improve the population’s health. HEDS colleagues, Professor Alan Brennan, Professor Aki Tsuchiya, Professor John Brazier and Dr Suzy Paisley are all involved in the research. 

The innovative SIPHER consortium – a new centre for Systems science In Public Health Economic Research – will provide evidence to support cost-effective action across different policy sectors, including economic growth, education and housing at different scales of government.

The consortium was launched as part of a £25 million funding programme from the UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) into understanding and influencing the social economic and environmental factors that affect our health.

Professor Meier, SIPHER Director and Professor of Public Health at the University of Sheffield, said: “We know that the conditions in which we are born and live are the key drivers of health and health inequalities. We also know that tackling these social determinants of health requires actions across many policy sectors, such as housing, education or employment.

Professor Meier said about the project: "SIPHER’s vision is a shift from public health policy to healthy public policy. This means all policy sectors working together to tackle health inequalities and improve the population’s health." 

The UKPRP is a partnership between four charities (British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Wellcome Trust and The Health Foundation), four UK Research and Innovation research councils (Medical Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council, National Environmental Research Council and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and four health and social care departments (Chief Scientist Office, Health and Care Research Wales, Health and Social Care Research and Development Northern Ireland and National Institute for Health Research).

For further details, see the University press release

ScHARR preferred provider for the PHE Health Economic (HE) Framework

ScHARR has been successful in achieving preferred provider status on the recent PHE Health Economic (HE) Framework (2018-21) tender. The Framework brings together a group of providers with a very broad range of expertise in the economics of public health and social care. It brings the opportunity to bid for projects and to collaborate with other providers on PHE health economic priority topics.

ScHARR - Regent Court

The demand for public health economics advice and support is strong and increasing both from within PHE and from other national and local bodies including local authorities, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and national policy-making bodies. The purpose of projects under the Framework is to assess the economic case for prevention, provide economic tools and resources, have economic input to national priorities and build health economics capacity.

This is the second PHE Health Economic Framework ScHARR has been involved in. Under the previous Framework we undertook projects to assess the return on investment (ROI) in the Diabetes Prevention Programme (DPP), to develop a Cardiovascular Disease ROI tool and to assess the feasibility of linking health and work outcomes.

Through its involvement in the PHE HE Framework ScHARR is supporting systematic, evidence-based public health decision-making, and influencing the way allocative decisions are made in order to improve population health and reduce health inequalities.

Project update: NICE guidelines on harmful sexual behaviour in children and young people

Fiona Campbell, Andrew Booth, Anthea Sutton 

ScHARR have been involved in two systematic reviews of evidence that informed new NICE guidelines on harmful sexual behaviour in children and young people. Fiona Campbell, Anthea Sutton and Andrew Booth were part of a team - including Simon Hackett (Durham University) and Evgenia Stepanova (Barnardo's) - that undertook the review using quantitative and qualitative evidence to inform the development of the NICE guidance.

This is the first time NICE has published guidance to enable practitioners to help children and young people who display harmful sexual behaviour. For too long, this is an issue that has gone under the radar. ScHARR in collaboration with Durham university and Barnardo's undertook an appraisal of the evidence to inform the assessment and treatment of harmful sexual behaviour in children and young people.

Recommendations include a joined up approach between universal services, child health services, children's social services and the voluntary sector. Other recommendations include engaging with families and carers before beginning an intervention and tailoring it to meet the needs of the individual child or young person. The evidence reviews also highlighted gaps in existing research and recommendations were made for further research into the impact of electronic media on sexual behaviour.

NICE has published the guidance and also the systematic reviews and can be viewed below.

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng55

Two new ScHARR papers on a framework for developing the structure of Public Health economic models

Dr Hazel Squires

Dr Hazel Squires from HEDS has just published two new papers on a framework for developing the structure of Public Health economic models. The research was funded thanks to a NIHR Doctoral Research Fellowship. The two subsequent journal articles were published in the International Journal of Public Health and Value in Health.The work was undertaken within ScHARR and Hazel’s supervisors - Professor Jim Chilcott, Professor Ron Akehurst, Dr Jennifer Burr and Professor Mike Kelly - also contributed to the papers.

This is the first conceptual modelling framework for Public Health economic evaluation. Public health interventions tend to operate in dynamically complex systems and modelling these interventions requires broader considerations than clinical technologies.

Dr Squires said of her work: “This framework has the potential to help decision makers answer useful questions, improve model verification, validation, credibility, and reusability, guide uncertainty analysis and future research, and to facilitate fair allocation of resources.”

The work was undertaken between 2010 - 2014.

The papers can be accessed at:

A systematic literature review of the key challenges for developing the structure of Public Health economic models

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00038-015-0775-7

A framework for developing the structure of Public Health economic models.

http://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015%2816%2900058-9/abstract

h.squires@sheffield.ac.uk