An equity–effectiveness framework linking health programs and healthy life expectancy
Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: South Australia's Strategic Plan includes a target to improve the population's healthy life expectancy. A common question among health policy and service planners is: 'How do health programs and services in the community relate to healthy life expectancy?' In response, this paper outlines an effectiveness and equity framework (EEF) for evaluating health interventions in applied settings. Using the example of coronary heart disease (CHD) management in general practice in South Australia, the EEF: (1) applies an internally consistent approach to accounting for population healthy life expectancy at state and smaller geographic levels; (2) estimates average population health gains from health programs, and gains across different socioeconomic subgroups within the community; (3) conducts economic evaluation by equating health gains against health system costs in population subgroups; (4) summarises relevant information about candidate intervention programs within a multi-criteria performance matrix for presentation to decision makers; (5) reassesses outcomes (and processes) following the implementation of a program and iteratively adds to the relevant knowledge and evidence base. The EEF offers a practical approach to selecting and evaluating intervention programs. The challenge is to develop system culture and data capture methods clearly focussed on linking health system activities to population health outcomes.
DOI: 10.1071/py11034
Authors: David Banham, John Lynch, Jon Karnon
Institutions: SA Health, The University of Adelaide
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2148717113