Toward a comprehensive research agenda: exploring the health economics of palliative care in Australia

Chris Schilling; Cate Bailey; Katharina Merollini; Alison Giles; Cara Platts; David C. Currow; Elise Button; Fiona Runacres; Gregory B. Crawford; Gregory Merlo; Jaclyn Yoong; Jennifer Philip; Jennifer Tieman; Meera R. Agar; Patsy Yates; Peter Hudson; Vijaya Sundararajan; Hannah Carter; Nikki McCaffrey

doi:10.1186/s12904-025-01867-3

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Toward a comprehensive research agenda: exploring the health economics of palliative care in Australia

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Toward a comprehensive research agenda: exploring the health economics of palliative care in Australia

Chris Schilling, Cate Bailey, Katharina Merollini, Alison Giles, Cara Platts, David C. Currow, Elise Button, Fiona Runacres, Gregory B. Crawford, Gregory Merlo, …

BMC Palliative Care, Vol.24, pp.1-9

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-025-01867-3

PMCID: PMC12573810

PMID: 41162971

Appears in Cancer Research Cluster Research Collection

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Abstract

palliative care

end-of-life care

health economics

health cost

health outcomes

palliative care metrics

Background Despite significant advances in the availability and quality of palliative care globally, health economics research to understand the value of palliative care in Australian settings remains scarce. To address knowledge gaps and foster evidence-informed policy, funding and practice, this paper presents a consensus-driven research agenda for the health economics of palliative care in Australia. Methods A panel of 27 Australian experts was convened, including health economists, palliative care clinicians/researchers, policy makers/government officials, and representatives from the national peak body for palliative care. Panel members completed a survey, participated in a forum and collectively drafted the research agenda. Results The panel recommended 16 health economics research priorities across four key areas: (1) person-centred outcomes; (2) costs; (3) economic evaluation; and (4) data and metrics. Specific priorities included: comprehensively capturing the benefits of palliative care for people with life-limiting illnesses and their informal carers; understanding the diversity of preferences for palliative care across the population; capturing informal caring costs within economic evaluations; embedding economic evaluation within clinical trials and health services studies; and quantifying the extent and location of unmet palliative care needs. Conclusions This paper outlines high-priority research actions to generate the economic evidence required for appropriate funding and resource allocation in palliative care. The research agenda serves as a strategic tool to help researchers address gaps without duplicating efforts. By focusing on these priorities, we aim to support the development of more effective, equitable and sustainable palliative care services across Australia.

Details

Title: Toward a comprehensive research agenda: exploring the health economics of palliative care in Australia
Authors: Chris Schilling (Corresponding Author) - The University of Melbourne
Cate Bailey - The University of Melbourne
Katharina Merollini - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Public Health
Alison Giles - Northern Health
Cara Platts - The University of Melbourne
David C. Currow - Flinders University
Elise Button - Flinders University
Fiona Runacres - Monash Health
Gregory B. Crawford - The University of Adelaide
Gregory Merlo - The University of Queensland
Jaclyn Yoong - Northern Health
Jennifer Philip - The University of Melbourne
Jennifer Tieman - Flinders University
Meera R. Agar - University of Technology Sydney
Patsy Yates - Queensland University of Technology
Peter Hudson - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Vijaya Sundararajan - St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne
Hannah Carter - Queensland University of Technology
Nikki McCaffrey - Deakin University
Publication details: BMC Palliative Care, Vol.24, pp.1-9
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd.
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.1186/s12904-025-01867-3
ISSN: 1472-684X
PMID: 41162971; PMC12573810
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Data Availability: No datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.
Organisation Unit: Cancer Research Cluster; School of Health - Public Health
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991175110902621
Output Type: Journal article

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