Resources Repository
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ArticlePublication 2022Vaccinations versus Lockdowns to Prevent COVID-19 Mortality
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly …
This analysis estimated the costs associated with preventing Covid-19 deaths by vaccinations versus lockdowns. Publicly available datasets from the Israeli Ministry of Health were used to model the parameters of the pandemic in Israel. The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker was used for quantitative data on government policies. Data on the Israeli economy were taken from the Central Bureau of Statistics. The models demonstrate that the first lockdown prevented 1022 COVID-19 deaths at the cost…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Decision Theory | Costing Methods | Health Outcomes | State-Transition | Infectious Diseases | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Middle East & North Africa -
Working PaperPublication 2018Valuing Nonfatal Health Risk Reductions
This paper explores approaches for valuing nonfatal risk reductions associated with policy choices in low- …
This paper explores approaches for valuing nonfatal risk reductions associated with policy choices in low- and middle-income countries. The approach for valuation ideally would be based on estimates of individuals’ willingness to pay for changes in their own risks. However, high quality valuation research is not available for many nonfatal conditions even in high-income settings. Typically, two approaches are used either alone or in combination as rough proxies. The first involves applying an estimate of…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Health Outcomes | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Social Determinants | Policy/Regulation | Health/Medicine | Global | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ReviewPublication 2017Patients' Preferences in Cancer Treatment: Review of Discrete Choice Experiments
This study aimed to systematically review discrete choice experiments (DCEs) about patients’ preferences for cancer …
This study aimed to systematically review discrete choice experiments (DCEs) about patients’ preferences for cancer treatment and assessed the relative importance of outcome, process and cost attributes. A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed and EMBASE to identify all DCEs investigating patients’ preferences for cancer treatment between January 2010 and April 2016. Attributes were classified into outcome, process and cost attributes, and their relative importance was assessed. A total of 28 DCEs were identified.…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Preferences/Values | Health Outcomes | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Chronic Disease/Risk | Health Systems | Health/Medicine | North America | Europe -
ReviewPublication 2016Remembering Howard Raiffa
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on …
Howard Raiffa (1924-2016) had a profound influence on all aspects of the decision sciences and on the fields of systems analysis and operations research. He guided the introduction of the decision sciences into numerous fields such as business, medicine, public health, the environmental sciences, and law, and was instrumental in building world-recognized institutions such as the Kennedy School at Harvard and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis near Vienna, Austria. This article is a thoughtful tribute by…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Decision Theory | Preferences/Values | Operations Research | Business/Industry | Health/Medicine | Military/Defense | North America -
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.
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Preferences/Values | Priority Setting/Ethics | Benefit-Cost Analysis | Social Determinants | Environmental Health | Policy/Regulation | Climate/Environment | Culture/Society | Government/Law | North America | Critical Thinking/Analysis -
ArticlePublication 2014Cost of a Primary Care-Based Childhood Obesity Prevention Intervention
This study evaluated the cost of a primary care-based obesity prevention intervention (High Five for …
This study evaluated the cost of a primary care-based obesity prevention intervention (High Five for Kids) for children ages 2-6 years, compared to usual care. U.S. pediatric guidelines recommend that childhood obesity counseling be done in primary care settings. The clinical trial aimed to modify children’s nutrition and TV viewing habits through a motivational interviewing intervention. The authors assessed the visit-related costs for children enrolled in the trial, and found that the mean costs for…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Costing Methods | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Clinical Care | Health/Medicine | North America -
ReviewPublication 2013Valuing the Economic Benefits of Complex Interventions
This is a review of economic evaluations of complex health interventions. Complex interventions, involving interlinked …
This is a review of economic evaluations of complex health interventions. Complex interventions, involving interlinked packages of care, challenge the application of current methods of economic evaluation that focus on measuring only health gain. The authors find that complex interventions may be problematic on two levels. First, the complexity means the intervention may not fit into one of the current appraisal systems, and/or second, maximizing health is not the only objective. This paper discusses the…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Preferences/Values | Health Systems | Policy/Regulation | Government/Law | Health/Medicine | Science/Technology | Europe -
ReviewPublication 2011Simulation Models of Obesity: A Review of the Literature
Simulation models combine information from a variety of sources to provide a useful tool for …
Simulation models combine information from a variety of sources to provide a useful tool for examining how the effects of obesity unfold over time and impact population health. They can aid in the understanding of the complex interaction of the drivers of diet and activity and their relation to health outcomes. This paper provided an overview of different types of simulation models used to evaluate the potential impact of policies to address the obesity epidemic.…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Mathematical Models | State-Transition | Microsimulation | Calibration/Validation | Cost-Effectiveness Analysis | Child/Nutrition | Chronic Disease/Risk | Food/Agriculture | Health/Medicine -
ArticlePublication 2007Decision Analysis: A Personal Account of How It Got Started and Evolved
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement …
In this chapter, Howard Raiffa discusses the evolution of decision analysis and his personal involvement in its development. He describes the early days of Operations Research (OR) in the late 1940s with its approach to complex, strategic decision making. After reading John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern’s Theory of Games and Economic Behavior (1947) and Abraham Wald’s two books (1947, 1950), he became involved in statistical decision theory. A few years later, after reading Leonard…
Decision Analysis | Economics/Finance | Decision Theory | Probability/Bayes | Preferences/Values | Operations Research | Business/Industry | Energy/Engineering | Health/Medicine