Evidence for Policies to Prevent Chronic Conditions (EPICC)

Chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes are the most common causes of death in Ireland and Europe. These diseases are becoming more common and they are extremely costly for governments. The costs will continue to increase unless governments can find better way to prevent and treat these diseases.

Moreover, these chronic diseases do not affect everyone in the population in the same way. We know that across Europe, individuals who are living in more disadvantaged areas do not live as long as those from more advantaged areas. Some of these differences in life expectancy are due to variations in the services that are available to people in their areas. Some of the differences are due to variations in the risk factors for the conditions themselves such as smoking, physical activity and having overweight or obese.

In 2018, the Irish government launched 'Sláintecare', a 10 year plan for the reform of the health service in Ireland. One of the main aims of this plan is to prevent chronic diseases in Ireland. This research project (EPICC) brings together the senior decision makers in the health service who are implementing the Slaintecare plan to work together with researchers from different academic disciplines to ensure that the changes being introduced are based on the needs of the population.

The aim of EPICC is to provide the information needed in terms of how big a problem chronic disease is in Ireland, how much it costs and what are the changes that can be made to the way care is being delivered to better prevent and treat chronic diseases. EPICC will bring together and analyse data from research studies such as surveys and from routine data sources such as prescriptions and hospital discharges to answer these important questions.

Award Date
06 October 2019
Award Value
€249,910.60
Principal Investigator
Professor Patricia Kearney
Host Institution
University College Cork
Scheme
Secondary Data Analysis Projects