Resources Repository
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Resource PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2021Resource Pack: Valuing Health and Longevity in BCA
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the valuation of …
This resource pack, curated by the Center for Health Decision Science, introduces the valuation of changes in health and longevity in benefit-cost analysis. It is targeted towards advanced students and practitioners who have a basic understanding of the benefit-cost analysis framework, as discussed in the Resource Pack: Introduction to Benefit-Cost Analysis. That pack provides a general overview of the approaches that are explored in more detail here, as well as related guidance documents. This pack…
Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Policy Translation -
ArticlePublication 2020Premature Deaths, Statistical Lives, and Years of Life
This article clarifies some misconceptions about mortality risk and economic valuation. The mortality effects of …
This article clarifies some misconceptions about mortality risk and economic valuation. The mortality effects of exposure to environmental hazards such as air pollution are often described by the estimated number of “premature deaths” and the economic value of an exposure reduction as the number of “statistical lives saved” multiplied by the “value per statistical life.” These terms can be misleading because the number of deaths advanced by exposure cannot be determined from mortality data; it…
Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
Lesson/ModuleVideo, Teaching Resource 2018Introduction to Effectiveness, Patient Preferences, and Utilities
This video is intended to provide an introduction to the concept of the quality-adjusted life …
This video is intended to provide an introduction to the concept of the quality-adjusted life year or QALY as well as preference measurement. Descriptions of the several techniques that can be used for measuring QALYs in economic evaluations are presented. This video is part of the Conducting Cost-Effectiveness Analysis with VA Data (HCEA) free course offered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Services Research and Development group focused on cost-effectiveness analysis and budget…
Preferences/Values | Decision Analysis | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | North America | College | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Quantitative Literacy -
BookPublication 2018Pricing Lives: Guideposts for a Safer Society
This book describes how the government came to adopt the value of a statistical life …
This book describes how the government came to adopt the value of a statistical life (VSL) approach for valuing changes in mortality risks and argues that its more widespread use would create a safer and more equitable society. The author estimates these values based on how much more money workers would demand to take on more hazardous jobs; his current estimate is $10 million. The book addresses numerous topics such as whether older people’s lives…
Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
Teaching PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2022Teaching Pack: Introduction to Decision Analysis
In this teaching pack on Introduction to Decision Analysis, students are provided a basic introduction to …
In this teaching pack on Introduction to Decision Analysis, students are provided a basic introduction to the field of decision analysis in the context of public health. After differentiating simple "relatively automatic" decisions from those that might require more systematic analysis, students are introduced to the core elements of a decision analysis (e.g., objectives, alternatives, probabilities, and outcomes), and the basic steps of a decision analysis. Materials include an instructor's note, videos, companion slides, a glossary,…
Preferences/Values | Decision Psychology | Probability/Bayes | Decision Analysis | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Health/Medicine | Global | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Quantitative Literacy -
Teaching PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2022Teaching Pack: Valuing Individual Health Outcomes
In this teaching pack on Valuing Individual Health Outcomes, students learn how to assign quantitative …
In this teaching pack on Valuing Individual Health Outcomes, students learn how to assign quantitative values to health outcomes at the individual level, including: expected utility theory, the axioms of this theory, distinguishing between preference-based measures of value and health-related quality of life outcomes, measuring utility using the standard gamble, the time trade-off, and the visual analog scale, and understanding the limitations of these measures. Materials include an instructor's note, videos, companion slides, a glossary,…
Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Decision Analysis | Injuries/Accidents | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | College | Graduate | Doctoral -
Teaching PackPublication, Teaching Resource 2022Teaching Pack: Population Health Outcomes
In this teaching pack on Population Health Outcomes, students learn how to describe outcomes at a …
In this teaching pack on Population Health Outcomes, students learn how to describe outcomes at a population level using quality adjusted life years (QALYs), including how to calculate QALYs, the assumptions underlying them, how to derive QALYs using indirect utility measures, and what are some of the ethical criticisms of QALYs. Materials include an instructor’s note, videos, companion slides, a glossary, an annotated bibliography, and sample exercises. Learning Objectives Define Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs)…
Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Injuries/Accidents | Health/Medicine | College | Graduate | Doctoral -
Tutorial/PrimerWeb Portal, Teaching Resource 2015Decision Theory
This chapter on normative decision theory is from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a dynamic reference …
This chapter on normative decision theory is from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a dynamic reference work available online. Decision theory is concerned with the reasoning underlying an person's choices, whether a mundane choice between taking the bus or getting a taxi, or a more far-reaching choice about whether to pursue a demanding political career. The orthodox normative decision theory, expected utility (EU) theory, essentially says that, in situations of uncertainty, one should prefer the option…
Preferences/Values | Decision Theory | Economics/Finance | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Quantitative Literacy -
ArticlePublication 2017Valuing Non-Fatal Risks: Monetary and Health-Utility Measures
This article discusses metrics for valuing environmental, health, and safety policies, which should be consistent …
This article discusses metrics for valuing environmental, health, and safety policies, which should be consistent with both the preferences of affected individuals and social preferences for distribution of health risks in the population. Two classes of metrics are widely used: monetary measures (e.g., willingness to pay) and health-utility measures (e.g., quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)). Health-utility measures impose more structure than monetary measures, with the result that individuals’ preferences often appear inconsistent…
Preferences/Values | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | College | Graduate | Critical Thinking/Analysis