Ana Duarte, Research Fellow, Centre for Health Economics
Ana Duarte is a Research Fellow in the Team for Economic Evaluation and Health Technology Assessment (TEEHTA). She joined TEEHTA in November 2012 after studying the MSc in Health Economics at the University of York.
Ana also holds a Pharmacy degree and a post-graduate diploma in Regulation and Evaluation of Medicines and Health Products from the University of Lisbon. She is a member of one of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) technology appraisal committees since 2021.
email: ana.duarte@york.ac.uk
Our 60-second interview with Ana:
What do you do in the field of mental health?
I am a health economist who works on economic evaluation of health technologies. These technologies include a wide range of interventions, which aim to improve health and quality of life. Economic evaluation aims to guide where best to invest healthcare resources to maximise population health, when resources are limited. My work in mental health has focused on the evaluation of interventions to improve the health of people experiencing mental health problems, using evidence collected in clinical trials.
What do you find most rewarding and inspiring in this work?
I find it immensely rewarding to do work that can inform policy and through it improve people’s health. This is particularly important in the mental health setting, because access to care is so constrained. I also enjoy working collaboratively with mental health professionals who both develop and deliver new ways to improve mental health.
What is the most challenging or complicated aspect of this work?
Mental health interventions can have a huge impact on people’s lives, but their development and assessment is often hindered by difficulties in securing funding. In contrast with medicines, it is much harder to generate good quality evidence.
What impact do you hope your work is having- or can potentially have?
I hope my work contributes to improving access to effective mental health care in the NHS.
Could you share with us one piece of advice that you follow for your own mental health?
One of the things that I have found hard to deal with when prioritising my mental health is how not to be overwhelmed by unsolicited advice. So my advice (as it was solicited!), is to set your own boundaries and work on practising self-compassion. Do not close yourself off to others and their compassion, but take the emotional space you need to be kind to yourself.