ECONOMIC APPRAISAL OF THE CHOICE AND TARGETING OF LIFESTYLE INTERVENTIONS TO PREVENT DISEASE IN DEPRIVED POPULATIONS - FULL PROPOSAL

Economic Appraisal of the Choice and Targeting of Lifestyle Interventions to Prevent Disease in Deprived Populations

The likelihood that conditions such as heart disease, cancers, diabetes and strokes will occur can be affected by the lifestyles that we adopt - such as smoking, over eating, not taking enough exercise, etc. We aim to provide information for policy makers, the NHS and individuals about which interventions to change unhealthy behaviours are effective, as well as cost-effective. Such information will assist in making decisions about how best to use the limited resources available to improve the health of the nation. The idea is that the consequences (in terms of ill health and costs) of different types of lifestyle are affected by an individuals personal circumstances and the environment in which they live. It is these factors that either promote or provide barriers to an individual changing their behaviour. The main research questions to be addressed are: the contribution of different lifestyle factors to the ill-health and mortality from CHD, cancer, stroke and diabetes that might be prevented; how this preventable ill-health varies between different areas and different social groups who differ in the amount of deprivation they suffer; and the relative costs and benefits of alternative ways of changing behaviour and their impacts on health inequalities.