Equity-informative research methods
This research theme develops 'equity-informative' methods of health services research and policy analysis that provide information about the health inequality impacts of organisations and policies.
Read a summary of our research programme so far:
, 1,846kb)Projects
Equity indicators
Methods for monitoring the equity performance of local health systems and organisations that are used by the NHS and could be used in other countries.
Distributional cost-effectiveness analysis
Methods for analysing equity in the distribution of programme costs and effects alongside efficiency in terms of aggregate costs and effects.
The need for equity-informative research methods
The research methods used to inform health services and policy decision making tend to focus on effectiveness and efficiency rather than equity. Different sub-groups of the population experience different patterns of health risk and disease, exhibit different health behaviours, and live within different social and economic contexts. Consequently, well-intentioned policies that are effective and efficient on average can be better for the health of some sub-groups than others, inadvertently worsening health inequalities.
To strengthen the evidence base for tackling health inequalities, it is necessary to re-engineer existing methods of health services research and policy analysis.
References:
Cookson, R., Skarda, I., Robson, M., & Doran, T. (n.d.). Equity-informative methods of health services research (PDF 
, 599kb). Journal of Health Organization and Management
Doran T, Cookson R. Re-engineering health policy research to measure equity impacts. In: Evans J, Ruane S, Southall H. Data in Society: Challenging Statistics in an Age of Globalisation. Bristol: The Policy Press, 2019.