Understanding the Complex Interactions Between Interventions, Well-Being, and Resource Allocation

In the realm of health economics and policy analysis, one ongoing topic of considerable interest is the improvement and refinement of methodologies and frameworks to better understand the complex interactions between interventions, well-being, and resource allocation. The explicit measurement and quantification of broader outcome measures in health decision making (including, but not limited to, health technology assessment) is attractive in many regards. In particular, as described by Brazier and Tsuchiya,1 outcomes beyond health are important, not well measured using our existing tools, and might be better addressed if we have a system that allows cross-sector comparisons. This view is reflected in the interest in extending the assessment of value in healthcare beyond health improvement. In this themed section “From Health to Welfare,” we include 6 studies that contribute to this ongoing discourse, each offering insights into different facets of economic evaluation aimed to incorporate well-being beyond traditional health outcomes into decision making.