Project Description
Challenge
More than 770,000 Canadians are currently living with ASD, FASD or CP — the most common neurodevelopmental disabilities. Treatments for these conditions have been focused on behavioural and symptom management because there now are no cures or effective preventions.
For health care decision-makers to be able to make informed choices, there needs to be a solid understanding of the effectiveness and costs of existing services. Yet, little evidence exists on the relative costs and consequences of existing diagnostic and treatment interventions. But economic evaluation can provide a framework to translate clinical impact to evidence-informed practice.
Project Summary
Dr. Jennifer Zwicker’s research team embarked on a three-part socioeconomic analysis to assess costs and potential savings associated with KBHN interventions.
Their first goal was to build a tailor-made KBHN health economics platform and to develop each KBHN project’s ability to evaluate. Their second goal was to use those evaluations better to understand the costs and the effectiveness of interventions. Finally, the team compared economic assessment to quantify the cost-effectiveness of each KBHN-developed intervention, which focused on addressing the unmet needs of children and families.
Result
By working with partners and health decision-makers, the research team is measuring healthcare costs, costs to families and the quality of life associated with patient-oriented interventions to inform service design and policy in Canadian health care systems.
Funding
Kids Brain Health Network – $200,000
Partners – $357,850
