Difficult decisions about the provision of health care treatments are unavoidable in a modern society where resources are limited; seeking value for money from the public purse is a clear social objective. The discipline of economics provides a framework to evaluate the merits of particular resource allocation decisions, incorporating appropriate uncertainties to ensure scientific rigor and transparent reporting.
Fundamental to economic evaluation is the combination of ‘cost’ and ‘benefit/outcome’ parameters into a single metric. In the presentation, I will discuss my past, present and planned contributions to the methodological and applied literature regarding the generic measurement of health benefit suitable for allocative decision making in health care. In particular, my research interests focus on vulnerable populations (including spinal cord injury and aphasia) where the notion of generic measurement is often viewed with skepticism. Further outcomes research – conceptual, qualitative and empirical – is necessary to explore the appropriate manner in which to integrate conventional health benefit measurements into applied research that seeks to address the significant challenges relating to neurological conditions.