Can We Have It “Whole”? Barriers and Opportunities for Embracing a Whole Health Perspective in HEOR

Issue ISPOR’s strategic focus on Whole Health challenges the traditional boundaries of health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), calling for a holistic approach to healthcare to incorporate physical, mental, social, environmental, and spiritual dimensions of wellbeing. Whole Health may thus move economic evaluations beyond the healthcare sector to include societal outcomes such as productivity, education, social care, and broader economic resilience. As a result, the choice of perspective as well as analytic approach, e.g. cost-effectiveness/utility analysis (CEA/CUA), societal cost-benefit analysis (CBA), or the more recently proposed social decision-making analysis (SDMA), is an increasingly important decision that will shape the value narrative and influence policy making. Overview Through an illustrative case study based on findings from a recent analysis estimating the societal return on investment (ROI) of vaccines we will show the impact of using different valuation approaches. We then will discuss the pros and cons of embracing a Whole Health approach and what this would mean for decision making on a country level. The moderator (Lotte Steuten) will provide a brief overview of key definitions and challenges (4 min). Each panellist will then provide their perspective with a special focus on key challenges and potential solutions in the context of the broader questions above (12 min). 20 minutes will be reserved for audience discussion. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how normative and analytic choices affect value assessment and decision-making and how HEOR can evolve to support more holistic, inclusive health policy aligned with ISPOR’s Whole Health vision. Key questions to be discussed will include how a Whole Health Approach could be implemented and sustainably operationalised, whether this will be realistically achievable given the current political context, and what other solutions might exist to improve the status quo in the meantime.