Teaching Economic Evaluation of Health Promotion Programs

Abstract

One of the essential functions of public health is evaluating the effectiveness and quality of population-based health services. To do this, health professionals and lawmakers must understand the true cost of programs and, in many cases, the future monetary savings that these programs generate. To address calls for consistent economic evaluation of health promotion programs, the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice directs that public health professionals should know how to “describe/use financial analysis methods used in making decisions about policies, programs, and services (e.g., cost-effectiveness, cost–benefit, cost–utility analysis, return on investment).” Anecdotal experience suggests that many undergraduate students are initially intimidated by the prospect of doing economic analysis, worried that it will involve understanding and applying complicated statistics—when, in reality, the math required is very basic. This article outlines, with handouts and instructor notes, a 50-minute lesson on simplified economic evaluation of health programs using lecture, examples, and an in-class, group-based case study.