About the project
Priority setting in health care is inevitable and has far-reaching consequences for patients and their relatives. In Norway, there is broad agreement on a "severity criterion": it is the most seriously ill who should be given the highest priority.
Do we think of the same thing when we describe a condition as "severe"? Is the concept of severity robust enough as a basis for good priority setting, and will the population support it? Do healthcare workers, health economists, bureaucrats, and politicians all mean the same thing? What do the patients themselves think, and does severity mean something different in Alta than in Oslo?
The research group consists of philosophers, economists, doctors, and other healthcare professionals, including three PhD candidates.
Method
Through conversations with a broad selection of people, SEVPRI will provide qualitative raw material for further analyses of these issues.
Quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to describe the diversity of opinions based on various theoretical frameworks.
SEVPRI aims to analyse the concept of severity as a criterion for priority setting as exhaustively as possible so that we can differentiate areas where we agree from areas of genuine disagreement.
Objectives
The goal is to improve the language in public priority setting discussions so that priority decisions are perceived as fair by as many as possible, and with acceptable compromises where the disagreement is insurmountable.
Financing
The Research Council of Norway