Episode 10: Francisca Vargas Lopes , Mental health care and inequalities

In this episode Francisca Vargas discusses with us about the research she conducted during her PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam: " Income inequalities beyond access to mental health care” and “Patient cost-sharing, mental health care and inequalities". In addition, she shares about her experience of having roles in academia, at OECD and as the Vice President of the Portuguese Association of Health Economics. 

Guest: Francisca Vargas Lopes

Hosts: Prithviraj Basu Mallik and María-José Mendoza

 Timestamps: 

(4:33) Francisca’s PhD research on “Income inequalities beyond access to mental health care”

(19:27) Discussion on the target group of the study “Patient cost-sharing, mental health care and inequalities"

(31:27) Dissemination of findings among policy makers and general public

(38:00) Challenges of having pursued a Multidisciplinary PhD

(47:00) Roles both in academia and in policy making complementing each other

(54:00) Role as the Vice President of the Portuguese Association for Health Economics

Sources: 

Lopes FV, Ravesteijn B, Van Ourti T, Riumallo-Herl C. Income inequalities beyond access to mental health care: a Dutch nationwide record-linkage cohort study of baseline disease severity, treatment intensity, and mental health outcomes. Lancet Psychiatry. 2023 Aug;10(8):588-597.

Lopes FV, Riumallo Herl CJ, Mackenbach JP, Van Ourti T. Patient cost-sharing, mental health care and inequalities: A population-based natural experiment at the transition to adulthood. Soc Sci Med. 2022 Mar;296:114741. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114741. Epub 2022 Jan 29. PMID: 35144223.