Abstract
The conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age are key drivers of health and inequalities in life chances. To maximise health and wellbeing across the whole population, we need well-coordinated action across government sectors, in areas including economic, education, welfare, labour market and housing policy. Current research struggles to offer effective decision support on the cross-sector strategic alignment of policies, and to generate evidence that gives budget holders the confidence to change the way major investment decisions are made. This open letter introduces a new research initiative in this space. The SIPHER ( Systems Science in Public Health and Health Economics Research) Consortium brings together a multi-disciplinary group of scientists from across six universities, three government partners at local, regional and national level, and ten practice partner organisations. The Consortium's vision is a shift from health policy to healthy public policy, where the wellbeing impacts of policies are a core consideration across government sectors. Researchers and policy makers will jointly tackle fundamental questions about: a) the complex causal relationships between upstream policies and wellbeing, economic and equality outcomes; b) the multi-sectoral appraisal of costs and benefits of alternative investment options; c) public values and preferences for different outcomes, and how necessary trade-offs can be negotiated; and d) creating the conditions for intelligence-led adaptive policy design that maximises progress against economic, social and health goals. Whilst our methods will be adaptable across policy topics and jurisdictions, we will initially focus on four policy areas: Inclusive Economic Growth, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mental Wellbeing and Housing.
Highlights
Framing healthy public policy as a complex systems problem Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 89% of UK premature deaths at an estimated societal cost of at least £100bn a year[1]
Policy costs and benefits are spread across sectors, making it harder to identify synergies, negotiate trade-offs and mobilise cross-sector political will
Drawing on our experience of policy appraisals and known enablers of evidence use in policy[37], we specified the necessary pre-conditions and actions required by academics and partners and created conditions known to facilitate evidence uptake: 1) we have built strong relationships with champions in each organisation which allow us to identify key features in policy debate and ensure our evidence can speak to these; 2) we focus on partners’ policy priorities, and make provision for these to change over time; 3) policy partners are co-investing time and money and will co-own outputs; and 4) we have well-developed plans for the migration of models and decision tools to policy partners via embedded, co-funded analysts
Summary
From health policy to healthy public policy, where the wellbeing impacts of policies are a core consideration across government sectors. Researchers and policy makers will jointly tackle fundamental questions about: a) the complex causal relationships between upstream policies and wellbeing, economic and equality outcomes; b) the multi-sectoral appraisal of costs and benefits of alternative investment options; c) public values and preferences for different outcomes, and how necessary trade-offs can be negotiated; and d) creating the conditions for intelligence-led adaptive policy design that maximises progress against economic, social and health goals. Whilst our methods will be adaptable across policy topics and jurisdictions, we will initially focus on four policy areas: Inclusive Economic Growth, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Mental Wellbeing and Housing. Keywords Health in All Policies, Wellbeing, Non-Communicable Disease, Prevention, Inequalities, Economic evaluation, Complex systems, Public Policy, Inclusive Growth, Housing, Public Mental Health, Adverse Childhood Experiences.
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