« III Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Health Economics: Cuban Society of Health Economics (Sociedad Cubana de EconomÃa de la Salud, SCES) | Main | II World Conference of the Spatial Econometrics Association »
October 28, 2008
PRIORITIES 2008: Conference of the International Society for Priorities in Health Care
Location: Newcastle-Gateshead, England, UK
Conference dates: 28-31 October 2008
Venue: Sage Concert Hall
“Managing scarcity in health care: theory-to-practice and practice-to-theory”
In October 2008, the conference of the International Society for Priorities in Health Care returns to the UK, this time to the north-east of England. Formed in 1996, following the first international conference on this topic held in Stockholm, the purpose of the Society is to provide a forum in which researchers and practitioners involved in priority setting can exchange ideas and experience. Particular importance is placed on: getting research into practice; learnings across poorer and richer nations; and encouraging practitioners to learn about approaches to priority setting and researchers to learn from real practical experience.
Much has changed in the eight years since the Society was last in the UK. Building on this, the main theme of this conference is very much about achieving greater action on priority setting and improving frameworks used for this purpose across lower and higher income countries. Thus, we aim to:
- achieve participation from practitioners at all levels of health care (from national through to local) as well as the public;
- create a vibrant environment for two-way learning, from theory to practice and practice to theory;
- enhance learning about managing scarcity in more equitable and efficient ways, and, thus, for the greater benefit of the populations we serve.
Key topics for discussion and presentation will be as follows:
- theoretical and methodological advances in priority setting (reconciling health system objectives, the ethical and the economic, understanding how organisations learn and how organisations can change, developments in health technology assessment, evaluating public health interventions)
- practical advances in priority setting (accounting for the politics of health care, managing scarcity in resource-deprived environments of lower-income countries, achieving disinvestment in health care)
- achieving real solutions (handling the media storm, legal issues and conflict resolution in priority setting, meaningful public involvement, making the academic practical)
- knowledge transfer and exchange (working across sectoral and disciplinary boundaries, learning from the private sector, barriers to engaging in knowledge transfer research)
- information to underpin decisions (can we make decisions with little evidence? what are the informational requirements of decision makers both at a national, local and individual client levels? Can these be met?)
You will soon be hearing form us about keynote speakers and the process of abstract submission and workshops. Until then, please mark this exciting event in your diaries. The conference has a Local Organising Committee which is being convened by the Institute of Health Society at Newcastle University by Angela Bate and Cam Donaldson. If you would like any more details or to make any suggestions, please contact Eileen Coope (eileen.coope@ncl.ac.uk).
We look forward to seeing you in Newcastle-Gateshead in 2008.
