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Challenges for economic evaluation when doing research with people with learning disabilities

Wednesday 10 December 2014, 12.30PM to 1.30pm

Speaker(s): Claire Hulme, Professor of Health Economics, University of Leeds

Abstract: Research with hard to reach vulnerable groups presents myriad challenges. This is particularly pertinent for people with learning difficulties. Indeed it has been observed that people with learning difficulties were not involved in research that was about them even as interviewees until the 1980s. Methodological difficulties include a tendency to acquiesce because so much of their lives are controlled by others; this has methodological implications for research in as much as how do we know if the person really understands what we are asking them? (Stalker, 1998). Within health economics research whilst there has been cost and cost effectiveness analysis of health and social care interventions aimed at people with learning difficulties, data collection methods for these analyses has relied on health care or health insurance records or tailored economic data collection forms such as the Client Service Receipt Inventory (CSRI) completed by the service provider rather than by people with learning disabilities themselves (Knapp et al., 2005).

This paper reports on the development and testing of data collection methods for an economic evaluation within a RCT for a manualised supported diabetes self-management programme for people with mild/moderate learning disabilities.

Location: ARRC Auditorium A/RC/014

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Economic evaluation seminar dates

  • 10 December 2014
    Claire Hulme, Professor of Health Economics, University of Leeds