2nd National Health Economics Conference: SHEA

On March 14th-15th 2013, the 2nd National Health Economics Conference was held by the Swedish Health Economics Association (SHEA) at Linköping University.

The Swedish Health Economics Association is called Svensk förening för hälsoekonomi in Swedish.

This is a two day conference, comprising around 120 people (mostly Health Economists from Sweden), with presenters mainly speaking in Swedish, although some of the talks are in English. To see the program guide, click here.

The conference unites most of the Health Economists in Sweden to discuss their latest research and work, as well as allows them to network with similar like-minded people.

My colleague and PhD student, Filipa Sampaio (main presenter), our advisor, Dr Inna Feldman, and I will present a paper called “A cost-effectiveness analysis of a parent training programme to prevent child behaviour problems. (En kostnadseffektivitetsanalys av ett föräldrastödsprogram som ska förebygga beteendeproblem hos barn).”

Dr Inna Feldman presented another talk (a poster) entitled Hälsoekonomisk utvärdering av Artrosskola I primävården.

From theory to practice – A health economic evaluation of a parent training programme in Uppsala preschools, Sweden

At the 2013 Nordic Conference on Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice in Linköping at Linköping University (Sweden), Filipa Sampaio presented a poster entitled “From theory to practice – A health economic evaluation of a parent training programme in Uppsala preschools, Sweden.” Michael Wells (me), Inna Feldman, and Anna Sarkadi were co-authors. (read the abstract from this poster and all of the other presentations from the conference here).

Filipa, a PhD student at Uppsala University, who focuses on Health Economics in Social Pediatrics/Parenting Support in the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Faculty of Medicine, eloquently announced her findings from a health economic perspective of the Triple P–Positive Parenting Programme.

(click here to see a pdf of the poster: poster presentation_Nordic conference_22_01_2013)

The main finding was that the Triple P program is effective at reducing child behavior and parental mental health at a relatively low cost; and investment in Triple P is self-financed after 1 year and could amount to greater financial (and resource) savings post-1 year.

The Nordic Conference on Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice (Linköping, Sweden)

The Nordic Conference on Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice was held on February 5-6, 2013 at Linköping University in Sweden. A few hundred (mostly) researchers and (some) practitioners attended this conference where there was plenty of discussion on the state of research within the health field. The Scientific Program and the abstract (listing all of the talks and a brief summary of them) can be found here.

Most of those attending were from Sweden, but other countries such as the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark (and others) were represented; therefore the conference was in English.

Easily the highlights of the conference were from the Keynote Speakers (perhaps not surprisingly).

Trisha Greenhalgh (who loves twitter: find her here) talked about Knowledge Transfer and was easily the most thought-provoking, insightful, and articulate presenter. She presented strong support for qualitative research as a means of generating multi-layered knowledge that is rich with voices from users of services–‘all knowledge is collective: Wittgenstein’s three layer: epistime, knowledge; technical and tacit knowledge; and praxis–the practical wisdom. This reminds us that “policy is a contact sport where knowledge is power.”

Another strong speaker was Huw Davies on Organizational Change, where he displayed an excellent use of graphics in his slides with minimal text. He highlighted the challenge of process that engages with values, tacit knowledge and experience; is socially and contextually situated and shared; and may require some difficult ‘unlearning’. If we seek organizational change, then he urges us to move from a mode of simply Evidence-Based Practice to a Mode of Co-production-from bridging to dialogue, although this way can be more difficult to evaluate. Leadership is key in achieving organizational change–make sure someone’s following you.

Overall the conference was decently inspiring and will certainly grow in-depth and knowledge as it has its second annual conference.

Dr. Disa Bergnehr: An Influence on My Swedish Family Policy Research

While working for Dr Anna Sarkadi, my PhD supervisor at Uppsala University, I was introduced to Dr Disa Bergnehr because Anna thought that she could add some real insight into a book chapter that I was starting to write on Family Policies in Sweden, to be published in the Handbook of Family Policies Around the Globe.

I started emailing Disa, and we hit it off right away. She was very enthusiastic about publishing, especially on a topic related to her field–Swedish family policy.

Disa works three hours south of Uppsala University at Linköping University, which is also where she earned her PhD in 2008 in the Department of Child Studies (called in Swedish Tema Barn) (see Disa’s LinkedIn page for more information). Therefore our relationship was primarily based through email, while some Skype. This isn’t the easiest feat, especially for two researchers, which two thoughts on how a book chapter should be written, who never met each other.

But the book chapter flowed seamlessly  And during the summer of 2012, the book chapter was written and accepted by the editor, Dr Mihaela Robila to be published by Springer in mid-June 2013; encompassing 500 pages of family policy from dozens of countries all over the world! We were now part of what will become the quintessential book for scholars, researchers, and graduate students wanting to know more about family policy issues from a world perspective!

Our relationship flourished and right before the final draft, I was able to make a trip down to Linköping to meet Disa and go over the last revisions to the chapter; and of course a celebratory dinner for a job well done!

Disa mainly studies the transition to parenthood: that tumultuous time when couples go from the care-free life, disposable income, and mainly work-responsibilities to being parents! And all of the stresses, burdens, and barriers that can greatly affect relationships. Besides the various academic publications on this (and other) topic(s), she also published a book entitled Timing Parenthood: Independence, Family, and Ideals of Life and has a book chapter in The Social Meaning of Children and Fertility Change in Europe.

Developing our working relationship further, Disa and I will continue researching and writing together. Our next project: Head Start preschool teachers: What motivates them to stay or leave working for a preschool organization?