Modelling community preferences for health policy: how choice experiments can inform the organisation of acute health services for older Australians. This work will provide vital information on community preferences to inform health policy regarding how we should best organise acute healthcare for older Australians. It addresses one of the most pressing health policy issues in Australia: how to maintain a sustainable, equitable and responsive health care system, in the face of an ageing populati ....Modelling community preferences for health policy: how choice experiments can inform the organisation of acute health services for older Australians. This work will provide vital information on community preferences to inform health policy regarding how we should best organise acute healthcare for older Australians. It addresses one of the most pressing health policy issues in Australia: how to maintain a sustainable, equitable and responsive health care system, in the face of an ageing population.Read moreRead less
Statistical methods for the analysis of critical care data, with application to the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Database. The recent inquiry into Queensland's Bundaberg Base Hospital highlights the need to monitor hospital performance. This project develops new statistical methods to account for uncertainty in the assessment of provider performance and its outcomes will provide government with institutional comparisons for policy and planning.
Developing methods for benefit measurement in health-related economic analyses and their use in selecting public health promotional programs. The program involves the creation, validation and use of a suite of instruments for evaluating outcomes of health promotional programs, including adult and childhood obesity, depression and smoking - areas that are universally recognised as being of importance for the Australian community. The program will provide multiple scoring algorithms for each of th ....Developing methods for benefit measurement in health-related economic analyses and their use in selecting public health promotional programs. The program involves the creation, validation and use of a suite of instruments for evaluating outcomes of health promotional programs, including adult and childhood obesity, depression and smoking - areas that are universally recognised as being of importance for the Australian community. The program will provide multiple scoring algorithms for each of the instruments in order to test the sensitivity of results to assumptions made about social values, and will produce Australian estimates of the person trade-off weights used in the Australian and Victorian Burden of Disease studies (which presently use Dutch PTO weights). Read moreRead less
The identification and measurement of equity and other health sector objectives. The project will investigate public expectations and values about the health system. The results will: (i) challenge the recent WHO evaluation of health systems in which 75 percent of the total score came from objectives other than population health; (ii) provide policy makers with numerical scores to indicate the relative importance of different broad objectives (such as access and the distribution of health servic ....The identification and measurement of equity and other health sector objectives. The project will investigate public expectations and values about the health system. The results will: (i) challenge the recent WHO evaluation of health systems in which 75 percent of the total score came from objectives other than population health; (ii) provide policy makers with numerical scores to indicate the relative importance of different broad objectives (such as access and the distribution of health services and the question of access to services); (iii) provide health service researchers with numerical scores to indicate where there are higher priority services or recipients: for example, the young or those with long term disabilities.Read moreRead less
Nanny state or good public policy: Do the benefits of mandatory health programs justify the loss of consumer choice? Governments are increasingly turning to mandatory programs to improve health. Such programs are appealing because there are high health benefits from universal participation and low costs for promotion and monitoring the program. However, this apparent benefit relies on restriction of personal choice, which may impose welfare losses on consumers. Evaluations generally ignore loss ....Nanny state or good public policy: Do the benefits of mandatory health programs justify the loss of consumer choice? Governments are increasingly turning to mandatory programs to improve health. Such programs are appealing because there are high health benefits from universal participation and low costs for promotion and monitoring the program. However, this apparent benefit relies on restriction of personal choice, which may impose welfare losses on consumers. Evaluations generally ignore loss of choice, despite evidence suggesting consumers value the ability to choose. This study will estimate the impact and value this loss of consumer choice, explore program specific factors and consumer characteristics influencing the valuation, and determine whether and how restricted choice should be explicitly considered when evaluating public health programs.Read moreRead less
Competition in medical labour markets. A sharp increase in the supply of medical practitioners has occurred in Australia. This is expensive and has uncertain effects on population health, earnings, and the distribution of medical practitioners. The aim of this project is to examine the impact of competition and increased supply on the prices charged, the quality of care provided, and the health status of patients. The research also aims to examine the location choices of medical practitioners an ....Competition in medical labour markets. A sharp increase in the supply of medical practitioners has occurred in Australia. This is expensive and has uncertain effects on population health, earnings, and the distribution of medical practitioners. The aim of this project is to examine the impact of competition and increased supply on the prices charged, the quality of care provided, and the health status of patients. The research also aims to examine the location choices of medical practitioners and is expected to generate new and important evidence using unique longitudinal data.Read moreRead less
A longitudinal study exploring women's experiences following a prenatal diagnosis of fetal abnormality. In Australia four per cent of babies are born with a congenital abnormality, many of which are detected during pregnancy. Little is known about women's experiences of a diagnosis. The aim of this study is to explore women's experiences following the diagnosis of a fetal abnormality during pregnancy, in order to develop appropriate models of supportive care.
Intellectual disability in courts and police cells. Benefit to the nation accrues because offenders with intellectual disability will be accurately identified early in their contact with the criminal justice system (CJS), and appropriate diversions from the CJS as well as rehabilitation programs can be implemented, thus producing cost-savings in all jurisdictions. The community benefits because offenders with ID can receive appropriate service provision, based on evidence provided by this study ....Intellectual disability in courts and police cells. Benefit to the nation accrues because offenders with intellectual disability will be accurately identified early in their contact with the criminal justice system (CJS), and appropriate diversions from the CJS as well as rehabilitation programs can be implemented, thus producing cost-savings in all jurisdictions. The community benefits because offenders with ID can receive appropriate service provision, based on evidence provided by this study. The individual's ties to the community will be maintained and on the community will be supported to assist the individual. Justice health systems, in staff management and training areas, will benefit. The outcomes will benefit educational programs for the judiciary, police and lawyers.Read moreRead less
Child Dental Benefit Policies and the Health of Australian Children. This project aims to examine the early effects of two recent initiatives by the Australian government to improve children’s dental health by providing funds to cover essential dental services for children from disadvantaged families. It explores the factors affecting eligible children’s access to benefits from these initiatives and identifies the causal impacts of these changed health care financing arrangements on children’s c ....Child Dental Benefit Policies and the Health of Australian Children. This project aims to examine the early effects of two recent initiatives by the Australian government to improve children’s dental health by providing funds to cover essential dental services for children from disadvantaged families. It explores the factors affecting eligible children’s access to benefits from these initiatives and identifies the causal impacts of these changed health care financing arrangements on children’s consumption of dental services, indicators of oral health and general health, and other indicators of cognitive and non-cognitive development. Using advanced econometric techniques and panel datasets, this project is expected to contribute to the development of effective policies for promoting health and wellbeing.Read moreRead less
The effect of competition and doctor heterogeneity on prices charged by doctors. Prices charged by doctors can have important effects on health care costs, access to health care and health status. This research will examine the determinants of prices charged by doctors. The results will be important in understanding the pricing practices of doctors and their impact on health care costs.