Health and Healthcare Research

RAND Europe's growing health and healthcare portfolio brings together a multidisciplinary team with backgrounds in public health, health services research, clinical medicine, economics, psychology and systems design.

We work in close partnership with The Health Improvement Studies Institute (THIS) to help generate practical, actionable evidence that can support sustainable improvements in healthcare service provision and long-term patient benefit. The Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (CCHSR) is also a key collaborator.

Featured Research

30 May 2019
Benchmarking deployment of eHealth among European GPs
RAND Europe and partners measured the use of ICT and eHealth applications by primary care physicians in the EU 28 Member States and Norway, compared the results with a 2013 study, and analysed the main drivers of change and factors that can enhance or inhibit the role and use of technologies within health care.

Selected Research

Practices and combinations of practices for health and wellbeing at work
29 Aug 2019
Researchers are examining the factors that enable or hinder the implementation of workplace health and wellbeing practices. The research will consider whether certain combinations of practices are more effective than other combinations, or effective for some types of organisations and not others.
Does de-escalation training reduce violence in the healthcare environment?
07 Aug 2019
De-escalation training for NHS staff may not in itself reduce the number of violent or aggressive incidents, but it can contribute to improved workplace wellbeing. Using comprehensive approaches to managing violence in NHS settings may be more effective than de-escalation training alone.
Updating the 'Vitality Age' Calculator
26 Jun 2019
The Vitality Age Calculator is an online tool that gives users a ‘snapshot’ of their overall health based on lifestyle choices and clinical factors. RAND Europe helped to update the calculator's methodology and use of available data.
Designing an evaluation framework for the NHMRC
17 Jun 2019
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia, have established a new grant program meant to emphasize fairness, reduce burden, and boost innovation and creativity in research funding processes. Researchers developed an evaluation framework and set of metrics to monitor the performance of the program.
Societal impacts of treating breast cancer early
11 Jun 2019
Treating breast cancer early does not prevent its recurrence, but doing so can have implications for future research, policy, and practice. Researchers explored the evidence base on the broader health, societal and economic impacts from early breast cancer treatment and the wider costs to society of the progression of breast cancer.
Research to aid the fight against cancer
31 May 2019
As part of the global fight against cancer, RAND Europe has led and collaborated on a number of studies exploring the impact of cancer research, the quality of care for cancer patients and the future outlook of different forms of cancer. Our findings and recommendations help inform future research, treatments and ultimately, care for cancer patients.
Evaluating the Wellbeing Premium Programme
30 May 2019
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) often find it hard to invest in the health and wellbeing of their employees, or do not invest at all. Researchers are evaluating a randomised controlled trial of a financial incentive programme to improve employee health and wellbeing in SMEs in the West Midlands.
Exploring the link between nature and mental health
21 May 2019
Researchers found emerging evidence of the positive association between being in a natural environment or engaging with nature-based interventions on the one hand, and improvement in mental health on the other.

Our Experts

Jon Sussex

Chief Economist

Jon Sussex is chief economist at RAND Europe and co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Health Services Research (a collaboration between RAND Europe and the Insitute of Public Health at the University of Cambridge). He has 30 years of experience in research and consultancy in the fields…

Sonja Marjanovic

Senior Research Leader and Head of THIS Institute-RAND Europe partnership

Sonja Marjanovic is a senior research leader in Innovation, Health and Science at RAND Europe and head of RAND Europe's institutional partnership with The Healthcare Improvement Studies Institute at Cambridge University (a flagship national research institute led by Prof…

Sarah Ball

Senior Analyst

Sarah Ball is a senior analyst at RAND Europe with a research focus on health and healthcare. In her time at RAND Europe, she has contributed to a range of research projects in the area of health services delivery, including NIHR funded studies on a ‘telephone first’…

Catherine A. Lichten

Senior Analyst

Catherine Lichten is a senior analyst at RAND Europe working primarily in areas related to science and health. Her RAND research projects have examined a range of topics related to research funding, research culture, and the interface of science and society. She also has…

Katherine I. Morley

Research Leader

Kate Morley is a research leader with RAND Europe, where she works in public health and healthcare research. Before joining RAND Europe, she was a senior lecturer at the National Addiction Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. She retains a visiting appointment…

Is Training for NHS Staff to Manage Workplace Violence Effective?

04 Sep 2019

Going to work should not mean being subjected to physical or verbal assault, but this is the reality faced by thousands of frontline NHS staff. De-escalation training may help staff manage patient violence and aggression, but there is not enough research about what works in specific healthcare contexts.

A person in pajamas and slippers walking to the bathroom at the night, photo by Sergey Dogadin/Getty Images

Waking Up to the Costs of Nocturia

18 Jun 2019

Nocturia is a troublesome lower urinary tract condition that causes people to wake up two or more times a night to empty their bladder. Researchers calculated the overall economic cost associated with nocturia in a working-age population across six countries.

Doctor talking on phone, photo by catchlights_sg/Getty Images

The 'Telephone First' Approach by GPs Does Not Work for All Patients

08 May 2019

The 'telephone first' approach in general practice does not work for all patients and can lead to challenges for primary care staff. The system clearly suited some patients, avoiding the need to visit the surgery, but was difficult for others.

Women dancing in a gym, photo by FatCamera/Getty Images

The Right Kind of Incentive Can Help People to Stay Active

30 Apr 2019

Having the motivation to keep exercising regularly can be challenging for many of us. So what will motivate people to keep heading out the door, whether it's for a swim or to the gym, for some much-needed activity?

Man sits on a bed at night, photo by cliplab.pro/Adobe Stock

How Two or More Trips to the Bathroom at Night Are Costing the UK Economy £4.5 Billion a Year

12 Mar 2019

Frequent visits to the bathroom at night could cost the UK economy £4.5 billion a year. Waking up more than twice a night due to nocturia, a health condition that affects the lower urinary tract, can have a detrimental effect on a person's wellbeing and productivity at work, which in turn has an impact on a country's GDP.

Quoted

When staff have the appropriate knowledge, confidence, attitudes and skills to handle aggressive or violent patients, they are less likely to experience harm resulting from patient aggression.

Michael Whitmore

Research Leader

Source: Nursing Times

Both nocturia and poor sleep quality offer important opportunities for intervention. Nocturia is still poorly understood and more research is needed to better understand the condition.

Marco Hafner

Senior Economist

Source: The RAND Blog

Incentive programmes can have a positive impact on healthy behaviours, particularly physical activity. But the type of incentive matters.

Marco Hafner

Senior Economist

Source: The Council for Work and Health

Don't make wellbeing a bolt on, something you do in lunch. Make it core to what you are doing in the workplace. Whether an organisation reports internally or externally on wellbeing is key—so that there is board level discussion and reporting.

Christian Van Stolk

Vice President, RAND Europe

Source: Safety Management Magazine

There's also something quite interesting in a survey of this nature [the Healthiest Workplace Survey]. It shows you the difference between what the employer thinks is happening and what the employee perceives. And, actually, that difference is quite substantial.

Christian Van Stolk

Vice President, RAND Europe

Source: BFM 89.9

There's some research that shows that if you're a well-slept person you tend to be more productive on average which subsequently has a positive effect on your long-term earnings.

Marco Hafner

Senior Economist

Source: Marketplace/BBC World Service

A well-rested employee has a higher work rate, is more productive in that sense, is more motivated, and also more engaged.

Marco Hafner

Senior Economist

Source: BBC Radio 4

People who don't sleep enough are more likely to die at any given point in time. And that obviously reduces the labor supply of an economy. If people don't sleep enough they are less productive at work, which subsequently also has negative consequences for companies.

Marco Hafner

Senior Economist

Source: Marketplace Morning Report

Are States Using Cyber Operations to Coerce Others?

Potential Benefits of Economic Integration in the Levant

African Dictators Have Been Losing Power—Some to Democratic Governments. Militaries Can Tip the Scales Toward Democracy

How Can the United States Support Democracies in the Former USSR?

Improving Gender Diversity in the U.S. Coast Guard

The Policy Currents Podcast

Managing Escalation in Crisis and War

Developing Strategies for Summer Learning

Getting to Know Military Caregivers and Their Needs

Helping Coastal Communities Plan for Climate Change

Health and Healthcare Research

Featured Research

Benchmarking deployment of eHealth among European GPs

Selected Research

Practices and combinations of practices for health and wellbeing at work

Does de-escalation training reduce violence in the healthcare environment?

Updating the 'Vitality Age' Calculator

Designing an evaluation framework for the NHMRC

Societal impacts of treating breast cancer early

Research to aid the fight against cancer

Evaluating the Wellbeing Premium Programme

Exploring the link between nature and mental health