Guns, tobacco and alcohol policies were just some of those discussed by participants at a two-day expert workshop which took place in Glasgow 25th-26th November 2019.

The expert workshop entitled ‘What’s next for natural experimental studies?’ aimed:

  1. to develop a position paper for publication in a high quality peer reviewed journal;
  2. to develop and nurture research collaborations to further advance natural experimental research with the ultimate goal of improving public health.

The workshop launched with an impressive speed presentation session which saw 16 attendees presenting their natural experimental work. Topics included evaluations of policy interventions as diverse as restricting car access around schools, mandatory menu-labelling and “stand your ground” defence laws in the US. Comprehensive mixed-methods approaches to the evaluation of natural experiments were exemplified in the following two sessions. Dr Mark Robinson from NHS Health Scotland, presented the evaluation of Scotland’s alcohol strategy and Professor Martin White presented the impact of the UK Soft Drinks Industry Levy on the food system and population health. HEHTA’s session on day two saw Dr Manuela Deidda presenting a framework for conducting economic evaluations alongside natural experiments and Dr Noemi Kreif examining effect heterogeneity using Machine Learning.

The lively discussion between the attendees raised some key issues which organisers, HEHTA’s Professor Jim Lewsey, Peter Craig, Ruth Dundas and S Vittal Katikireddi, hope to develop into an impactful paper.

First published: 29 January 2020

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