Change Initiative

About the initiative

The Change Initiative is a pioneering initiative convened by the Office of Health Economics (OHE), an Independent Research Organisation (IRO) and registered not-for-profit, leveraging the collective expertise and insights of an expanding community of the world’s leading organisations in health and care.

Through vehicles including Commissions, the Future Health Forum, and the Change Summit, the Change Initiative will form purposeful and collaborative partnerships between people, organisations, and health systems, developing original research and thought leadership to deepen our understanding and identify shared approaches to novel solutions.

The Initiative is unique in its ability to bring global industry, regulators, payers, and academics together in a neutral atmosphere to identify and address critical global health challenges. The world-leading team at OHE have been doing this for over 60 years through focused research programmes and consulting in collaboration with governments, academics, industry, and the wider health sector.

Our 2023-2025 Global challenge research themes

New research into critical global health challenges will help to stimulate discussion and ideas. Given the timeframes on which outputs will begin to influence decision-making, the Change Initiative will focus on core research themes for two–to–three-year research cycles in the first instance developed around critical change pathways.

For 2023-2025 our research themes are:

Sustainability and Health | The Future of Green Healthcare

Tackling the climate crisis is an international priority. While it attracts less attention than other sectors, healthcare is a significant contributor to environmental damage, responsible for up to 5% of total global impacts. Beyond the impact the sector has on the environment, climate change itself is set to cause direct damage costs to health of up to $4bn a year by 2030.

Whilst action is being taken, we are not moving fast enough to alter the course. Sustainable healthcare policies and practices can help reduce waste, minimize pollution, and foster a healthier population, but novel approaches and cross-cutting collaboration are needed to drive change.

The Prevention Agenda | Reimagining Health Systems

It is globally acknowledged that prevention is better than cure and yet most health systems spend less than 1% of their budgets on preventative approaches. As we reflect on the lessons of COVID-19, we believe it is time to transform our approach to health and well-being.

A preventative approach can help reduce healthcare costs, improve patient outcomes, and decrease the burden on healthcare systems. Implementing reforms that shift the focus from disease management to disease avoidance, thereby enabling a healthier and more prosperous global society.