Dr Will Whittaker is a Senior Lecturer in Health Economics in the Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems. He recently travelled to Australia for a research visit, which featured collaborators in Queensland, a conference in Sydney and a lot of entertainment alongside!
I recently visited University of Queensland’s Centre for the Business and Economics of Health (CBEH). My visit was funded by an Australian Research Council grant ‘Incorporating the gains from healthy ageing in health system planning’. The project aims to develop evidence-based fit-for-purpose models for planning future capacity for public health programmes. A core focus has been in developing new methodological approaches that consider how health and health risks have changed over time.
Now in the final year of the project, the visit was spent exploring whether increases in poor mental health is related to variations in subjective reporting, the logic here being that changes in social stigma and awareness of mental health may mean people’s reporting of poor mental health has changed even if prevalence has not.
During the visit I met with researchers to start discussions around how we might continue to build collaborations in health economics between the University of Queensland and the University of Liverpool.
Of course, I was able to enjoy Brisbane and the Gold Coast too! My visit coincided with BrisFest, Brisbane Pride, and the SWELL Sculpture Festival so I had plenty to do! I saw a spectacular drone show, some thought-provoking art (I picked up a little piece I’ve named Disco Bob), and had a great time watching a drag show. Amazing!
The second part of my visit took me to Sydney where I attended the Australian Health Economics Society conference and presented my research around the impacts of arthritis on labour market outcomes. The conference was really interesting and had two keynotes from prominent health economists including Emily Lancsar, who has just been appointed Chief Health Economist in the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, and Prashant Bharadwaj from University of California. Both highlighted the important contribution health economics research can and should make to health and healthcare.
The visit comes at a particularly exciting time for me. I joined the University of Liverpool in July 2024 and one of my first aims is to help establish a health economics identity and research group here. When not collaborating and presenting (and having fun!), I also spent time in communication with the other health economists at Liverpool to finalise our vision, aims and objectives, and branding for the new health economics group. This will be launched imminently – watch this space!
As I engage with the different Departments and Schools at the University, I am continually warmed by the overwhelming sense of collegiality at Liverpool. So, with that in mind, I close with a cheeky plug – my areas of research interests can be found on my staff webpage. Do please reach out at william.whittaker@liverpool.ac.uk if there are potential overlapping areas of interest or you want to know more about how the health economics group is progressing!