MHE Seminar Series: Professor Jan Abel Olsen
Widening the gap: The impact of increased social disparities in health behaviours on inequalities in health and wellbeing
Presenter: Prof Jan Abel Olsen
Bio: Jan Abel Olsen is now an Emeritus Professor, after 25 years as professor of health economics and health services research in the Department of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway. For the past 12 years he was Adjunct Professor in the Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Australia, and part time researcher in The Norwegian Institute of Public Health. He has been affiliated with universities in Aberdeen, London, Melbourne, Milano, Oslo and York as adjunct professor or
visiting professor. His eclectic research interests include: Measurement and valuation of health and wellbeing; Health behaviours; Efficiency vs equality in health and healthcare; Healthcare financing. Extensive research outputs appear in three top field journals; JHE, SS&M, HE, as well as more specialised journals when relevant. An interest in the wider subject area is signified by his three books, including Principles in Health Economics and Policy, Oxford University Press, 2017.
Abstract: The social gradient in health is persistent and ubiquitous, even widening in egalitarian Nordic countries, referred to as the Nordic paradox. This paper investigates the combined effect of two separate mechanisms that may contribute to explain this paradox: i) increased social stratification in health behaviours due to reinforced habit formation resulting from educational homogamy, and; ii) the increasing relative importance of health behaviours in explaining health inequalities due to an expanding proportion of ill health caused by ‘lifestyle diseases’. By use of unique longitudinal data from a Norwegian population-based study (The Tromsø Study), we follow 11,313 adults, aged 25-54 at baseline, over 21 years. Results show widening socioeconomic disparities in (un)healthy behaviours over time. We investigate the relative importance of three health behaviours (smoking, obesity and physical activity) versus three socioeconomic indicators (own and spouse educations, childhood living standard), for explaining inequalities in health and wellbeing. Four different outcomes measure are applied; EQ-5D-5L index values, EQ-VAS scores, Self-rated health and Satisfaction With Life Scale. By controlling for differences in self-rated health at baseline, we show how (changes in) health behaviours in adulthood impact health and wellbeing in later life. Shapley value decompositions suggest that health behaviours explain twice as much of the explained health variance as the three socioeconomic predictors. Our study provides new insight into the mechanisms that are widening health inequalities over the life course.
When: Wednesday 29 January 2025
Time: 10am - 11am
Where (hybrid): Room 515, Level 5, 207 Bouverie Street. Zoom details will be sent after registration
Registration is essential using this link: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/njq8
Or QR code below.
