IHOPE Methods & Evidence Workshop

The 2025 IHOPE (Improving Household Out-of-Pocket Expenditure Measurement) project Methods & Evidence Workshop was held from 7th to 11th July at the Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences (FNBUHAS), Hohoe.

The workshop convened key national and international collaborators to reinvigorate data analysis, accelerate manuscript production, and develop a sustainability plan for future research and policy engagement. The project was originally launched in Ghana to enhance the quality and comparability of out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditure data in Ghana.

During the five days of the workshop, participants including economists, epidemiologists, public health experts, and statisticians, reviewed the project’s core objectives, cleaned legacy datasets, compared survey instruments, and finalized the structure of three priority manuscripts. The team critically examined how item list length, recall periods, and estimation models affect the measurement of OOP payments. Findings reconfirmed the validity of using shorter item lists and 12-month recall periods to reduce misreporting and improve policy relevance. A major accomplishment of the workshop was the structured planning of three manuscripts addressing: (1) the impact of household vs. individual models on OOP estimates, (2) the effect of recall periods on reported health spending, and (3) the incidence and intensity of catastrophic health expenditures in the Kassena-Nankana District of Ghana. Dedicated leads and timelines were assigned to each manuscript.