CHE Seminar Series: Productivity as a health outcome
Health productivity is typically treated as a cost in economic evaluation. This talk challenges that assumption by reframing productivity as a health outcome using productivity-adjusted life-years (PALYs). A PALY combines a productivity index (0–1) with years of life lived, capturing participation, absenteeism, and presenteeism as a bounded, person-level outcome that can be analysed alongside quality-adjusted life-years.
The presentation includes a scoping review of all published PALY studies, synthesising how productivity has been measured and applied across chronic disease and prevention research. Using examples from epilepsy, musculoskeletal disorders, and prevention, this section explores the relationship between health, productivity, and quality of life.
To improve interpretability and equity, Australian population productivity norms have recently been published. The norms capture paid participation using employment status, absenteeism, and presenteeism, alongside exploratory application of absenteeism and presenteeism concepts to unpaid participation, enabling consistent reporting of productivity outcomes across diseases, clinical trials, and prevention programmes.
Speaker profile
Professor Zanfina Ademi (MPharm, MPH, PhD) is Professor of Health Economics and Head of the Health Economics and Policy Evaluation Research (HEPER) group at Monash University, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She leads a multidisciplinary team advancing health, productivity and equity through health economics and epidemiology research and policy translation. A member of the ESC–PBAC Committee, she previously worked in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) with the Swiss Medical Board and Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health and has developed models supporting multi-country HTA submissions. Her research has informed policy and attracted over $45M in NHMRC/MRFF funding, with 240+ publications including NEJM, The Lancet, BMJ and JAMA. She teaches epidemiology and health economics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervises higher degree research candidates in health economics, pharmacy and public health.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu .
Event Details
- Date:
- 25 March 2026 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
- Venue:
- Caulfield campus, Building H, level 9, room H9.14
- Categories:
- CHE Seminar; General
Description
Health productivity is typically treated as a cost in economic evaluation. This talk challenges that assumption by reframing productivity as a health outcome using productivity-adjusted life-years (PALYs). A PALY combines a productivity index (0–1) with years of life lived, capturing participation, absenteeism, and presenteeism as a bounded, person-level outcome that can be analysed alongside quality-adjusted life-years.
The presentation includes a scoping review of all published PALY studies, synthesising how productivity has been measured and applied across chronic disease and prevention research. Using examples from epilepsy, musculoskeletal disorders, and prevention, this section explores the relationship between health, productivity, and quality of life.
To improve interpretability and equity, Australian population productivity norms have recently been published. The norms capture paid participation using employment status, absenteeism, and presenteeism, alongside exploratory application of absenteeism and presenteeism concepts to unpaid participation, enabling consistent reporting of productivity outcomes across diseases, clinical trials, and prevention programmes.
Speaker profile
Professor Zanfina Ademi (MPharm, MPH, PhD) is Professor of Health Economics and Head of the Health Economics and Policy Evaluation Research (HEPER) group at Monash University, Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She leads a multidisciplinary team advancing health, productivity and equity through health economics and epidemiology research and policy translation. A member of the ESC–PBAC Committee, she previously worked in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) with the Swiss Medical Board and Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health and has developed models supporting multi-country HTA submissions. Her research has informed policy and attracted over $45M in NHMRC/MRFF funding, with 240+ publications including NEJM, The Lancet, BMJ and JAMA. She teaches epidemiology and health economics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels and supervises higher degree research candidates in health economics, pharmacy and public health.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu .