Societal values and health policy making: the role of consistency, coherence and consensus

The views of the public are relevant to decisions about how health budgets are distributed. Every decision to pay for items such as medicine or other treatment, is a decision not to pay for something else that might have been of benefit to someone else. However, members of the public disagree about how health resources should be used, and this presents a challenge. It is difficult to know how decisions should be made that respect public views when ‘the public’ disagrees. 

Researchers with different backgrounds have approached this problem in different ways, working with small groups or conducting large surveys. Some focus on the majority view or achieving consensus, others on the coherence and consistency of arguments.

We will bring together researchers and health policy professionals to discuss ideas and design new research that combines our knowledge. We will then plan and write a symposium and design research into this issue.