Priority Setting, Health Care Utilisation and Outcomes Evaluation in Seniors’ Care in Interior Health

With about 20% of the region’s population being 65 years and older, the proportion of seniors in the Central Interior region is high compared with provincial and national averages (13%). Projections over the next ten years suggest that the seniors’ population in this region will continue to exceed that of other regions and provinces. As a result, health care for seniors has been identified by Interior Health as one of its key areas of strategic interest.

Principal Investigator:

Decision Maker:

  • Anne-Marie Broemeling
    Interior Health

Research Summary

With about 20% of the region’s population being 65 years and older, the proportion of seniors in the Central Interior region is high compared with provincial and national averages (13%). Projections over the next ten years suggest that the seniors’ population in this region will continue to exceed that of other regions and provinces. As a result, health care for seniors has been identified by Interior Health as one of its key areas of strategic interest.

The aging population brings with it an increase in the numbers of persons with age-related chronic diseases. Improved early disease detection combined with better health care results in care recipients living longer. This, in turn, results in a longer period of health deterioration before death.

This study will introduce an explicit, evidence-based approach to priority setting, known as program budgeting and marginal analysis (PBMA), for this important population at Interior Health. This approach is designed to assist decision makers in weighing evidence from numerous sources to determine how resources might be allocated to improve health gain or to better meet other relevant criteria. It will also evaluate the impact of the resulting service redesign on health services utilisation and health outcomes.

The outcomes of this project may impact decision-making practice both in Canada and abroad by offering a process for priority setting in specific service areas that is both informed by and evaluated through research, allowing organizations to allocate resources in a manner which best meets health system objectives.