The primary goal of the Household Economics & Health Systems research area is to study the interactions between individuals and the larger health system environment, with a focal area on human behavior and individual incentives and constraints. Most of the traditional public health literature has a strong societal or population focus, with relatively little attention paid to the decision-making processes underlying individual and family behavior.

Identifying the motivations and constraints underlying individual decision making is critical not only for understanding specific health behaviors, but also for designing the most effective interventions to improve health outcomes. Through an explicit multidisciplinary focus on the interactions between individuals, households, policy makers, and the health system as a whole, we aim to 1) identify and overcome barriers to the adoption of healthy behaviors, 2) improve the performance of health systems, and 3) quantify the economics of improved health at the individual and population levels.

For more information about the Department of Household Economics and Health Systems Research at Swiss TPH, please click here.