Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2017Policy Makers, the International Community and the Population: Case Study on HIV/AIDS
A four-period game is developed between a policy maker, the international community, and the population. …
A four-period game is developed between a policy maker, the international community, and the population. This research supplements, through implementing strategic interaction, earlier research analyzing "one player at a time." The first two players distribute funds between preventing and treating diseases. The population reacts by degree of risky behavior which may cause no disease, disease contraction, recovery, sickness/death. More funds to prevention implies less disease contraction but higher death rate given disease contraction. The cost…
Decision Psychology | Priority Setting/Ethics | Mathematical Models | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Global Governance | Economics/Finance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2017Likelihood Approach for Calibration of Stochastic Epidemic Models
Stochastic transmission dynamic models are especially useful for studying the early emergence of novel pathogens …
Stochastic transmission dynamic models are especially useful for studying the early emergence of novel pathogens given the importance of chance events when the number of infectious individuals is small. However, methods for parameter estimation and prediction for these types of stochastic models remain limited. This paper describes a calibration and prediction framework for stochastic compartmental transmission models of epidemics. The proposed method applies a linear noise approximation to describe the size of the fluctuations, and…
Dynamic Simulation | Dynamic Transmission | Calibration/Validation | Infectious Diseases | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | Global -
ArticlePublication 2016Identifying Cost-Effective Dynamic Policies to Control Epidemics
This paper describes a mathematical decision model for identifying dynamic health policies for controlling epidemics. …
This paper describes a mathematical decision model for identifying dynamic health policies for controlling epidemics. The dynamic policies aim to select the best current intervention based on accumulating epidemic data and the availability of resources at each decision point. An algorithm is proposed to approximate dynamic policies that optimize the population's net health benefit, a performance measure which accounts for both health and monetary outcomes. The authors further illustrate how dynamic policies can be defined and…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | Dynamic Transmission | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Infectious Diseases | Health/Medicine -
ReviewPublication 2016Choosing an Epidemiological Model Structure for Economic Evaluation
This review presents a taxonomy of epidemiological model structures and applies it to the economic …
This review presents a taxonomy of epidemiological model structures and applies it to the economic evaluation of public health interventions for non-communicable diseases. Growing pressures on health services and on social care have led to a greater need for prevention of chronic diseases. In order for decision makers to make informed judgements about how to best spend finite public health resources, they must be able to quantify the anticipated costs, benefits, and opportunity costs of…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Dynamic Transmission | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Health Systems | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2016Combining Microsimulation and Agent-Based Modeling
This paper proposes a hybrid model structure combining microsimulation and agent-based modeling to simulate population …
This paper proposes a hybrid model structure combining microsimulation and agent-based modeling to simulate population dynamics. Microsimulation describes the population dynamics at the individual level, and actions conducted by the individuals are generated by stochastic processes. An emerging method is the agent-based model, which focuses on the interactions among individuals and expects to see unexpected situations created from the interactions. In the proposed hybrid model, the microsimulation model takes a role to depict how an…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | Microsimulation | Asia & Pacific -
ReviewPublication 2016Decision Support for Infectious Disease Control
This report from RAND reviews decision-support tools, including models and nonmodeling approaches, that are relevant to …
This report from RAND reviews decision-support tools, including models and nonmodeling approaches, that are relevant to infectious disease prevention, detection, and response and aligns these tools with real-world policy questions that the tools can help address. This overview is designed to help modelers and other technical experts understand the questions that policymakers will raise and the decisions they must make. The report also presents policymakers with the capabilities and limitations of the different tools that may…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Dynamic Transmission | Microsimulation | Infectious Diseases | Global Governance | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Global -
ArticlePublication 2016“Nudges” in Law and Policy
This article describes research on Americans’ preferences for types of “nudges” in the context of …
This article describes research on Americans’ preferences for types of “nudges” in the context of law and public policy—those that target “system 1” thinking, meaning the intuitive, emotion-based mechanisms, such as graphic warnings and default rules, versus those that target “system 2” thinking, the rational, deliberative form of cognition, such as statistical information or education-based messages.
Decision Psychology | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Policy/Regulation | Culture/Society | Government/Law | Health/Medicine -
ReviewPublication 2015Decision-Analytic Modeling Studies of Multiple Myeloma
This review provides an overview of decision-analytic models evaluating different treatment strategies for multiple myeloma …
This review provides an overview of decision-analytic models evaluating different treatment strategies for multiple myeloma and is based on a systematic literature search to identify studies evaluating treatment strategies using mathematical decision-analytic models. Studies were included that assessed relevant clinical endpoints, and summarized methodological characteristics (e.g., modeling approaches, simulation techniques, health outcomes, perspectives). Eleven decision-analytic modeling studies met inclusion criteria. Five different modeling approaches were adopted: decision-tree modeling, Markov state-transition modeling, discrete event simulation, partitioned-survival analysis and…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health/Medicine -
ReviewPublication 2015Agent-Based Models and Microsimulation
This article reviews the principles and applications of agent-based models (ABMs). ABMs are computational models …
This article reviews the principles and applications of agent-based models (ABMs). ABMs are computational models used to simulate the actions and interactions of “agents” within a system. Usually, each agent has a set of rules for how he or she responds to the environment and to other agents. These models are used to gain insight into the emergent behavior of complex systems with many agents, in which the emergent behavior depends upon the micro-level behavior…
Dynamic Simulation | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | Science/Technology