Resources Repository
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Lesson/ModulePublication, Teaching Resource 2016Surviving the Surge
This case study explores the experiences of three Manhattan-based hospitals during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. …
This case study explores the experiences of three Manhattan-based hospitals during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. It focuses on decisions made by each institution, as Sandy approached, about whether to shelter-in-place or evacuate hundreds of medically fragile patients, and how each of the three hospitals took a different approach, informed by differing perceptions of risk and related factors. The case will be useful for public health students and administrators in understanding decision-making in settings of an…
Risk Analysis | Decision Analysis | North America | Injuries/Accidents | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Business/Industry | Climate/Environment | Health/Medicine | Graduate | Doctoral | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership -
Working PaperPublication 2015Benefit-Cost Analysis and the Cities
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions …
This paper provides a short introduction to the use of benefit-cost analysis to assess interventions undertaken at the city or municipal level. It introduces the concepts that underlie the conduct of benefit-cost analysis, describes the major analytic components, and discusses how to tailor the analysis to the characteristics of the policy and the resources available. It concludes with a list of references for those interested in learning more.
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Decision Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
GuidelinesPublication 2014EPA Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses provide a framework for …
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses provide a framework for assessing the impacts of environmental regulations and policies that has been extensively peer-reviewed and is widely-applied both within and outside of the agency. The Guidelines discuss: (1) statutory and executive order requirements for conducting economic analyses; (2) identifying the need for policy action; (3) regulatory and non-regulatory approaches to pollution control; (4) baseline definition; (5) discounting future benefits and costs;…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | Decision Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Environmental Health | Climate/Environment | Government/Law | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
Lesson/ModulePublication, Teaching Resource 2014CDC Science Ambassador Workshop 2014 Lesson Plan: Master of Disaster
This lesson plan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was curated to …
This lesson plan from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was curated to teach high school students, grades 9-10, to explore decision-making around natural disaster emergencies. The lesson includes a video, public health emergency response data, and a response plan. It explores interactive cases of cholera in Haiti after an earthquake and breaks down risk factors and different approaches to the scenario. Students make informed decisions based on this data, exploring public health…
Decision Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Injuries/Accidents | Environmental Health | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Latin America & Caribbean | High School | Critical Thinking/Analysis | Decision Making/Leadership | Quantitative Literacy -
BookPublication 1978Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease
This report from the Institute of Medicine, The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery …
This report from the Institute of Medicine, The Swine Flu Affair: Decision-Making on a Slippery Disease, was written to review and critique the decisions made around the 1976 swine flu threat. In 1976, a small group of soldiers at Fort Dix were infected with a swine flu virus that was deemed similar to the virus responsible for the great 1918-19 world-wide flu pandemic. The U.S. government initiated an unprecedented effort to immunize every American against…
Risk Analysis | Decision Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology -
ArticlePublication 2023Benefits and Costs of COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations …
Written mid-pandemic, this article evaluates the direct costs and health benefits of requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for U.S. federal employees and healthcare and private sector workers. These mandates were controversial and some were halted by litigation. If they had been implemented as intended, the net benefits would depend on the course of the pandemic. If a more transmissible variant (such as Omicron) emerges, the net benefits may be large. If the pandemic instead fades, the benefits…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Business/Industry | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2022COVID-19 Response: The Need for Economic Evaluation
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be …
COVID-19-related policies are fraught with trade-offs. Many of these trade-offs involve dimensions that can be quantitatively weighed using economic evaluation, such as those between health and cost outcomes. Other types of dimensions, such as those involving equity or autonomy, can be harder to quantify but should be considered in a comprehensive health policy decision-making context nonetheless. The authors of this New England Journal of Medicine Perspectives article outline how methods of economic evaluation and decision…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Priority Setting/Ethics | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2022Emerging Therapies for COVID-19: The Value of Information From More Clinical Trials
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face …
The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated time-sensitive policy and implementation decisions regarding new therapies in the face of uncertainty. This study aimed to quantify consequences of approving therapies or pursuing further research. The authors used a cohort state-transition model for hospitalized patients with COVID-19 to estimate quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and costs associated with multiple drug regimens and usual care. For each they assessed immediate approval, use only in research, emergency use authorization or reject. They conducted cost-effectiveness…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Value of Information | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Economics/Finance | Europe -
ReportPublication 2021Valuing COVID-19 Mortality and Morbidity Risks
In this report, the researchers develop an approach for valuing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity risk …
In this report, the researchers develop an approach for valuing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity risk reductions that builds on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Guidelines for Regulatory Impact Analysis. They review the differences between COVID-19 mortality risks and the types of risks that are more commonly studied, and find that the impacts of these differences on the value of mortality risk reductions (the value per statistical life, VSL) are uncertain. They…
Benefit-Cost Analysis | North America | Policy/Regulation | Preferences/Values | Infectious Diseases | Government/Law