Professor Rob Anderson (he/him)

Professor of Health Services and Implementation Research

I am an applied health services researcher and implementation scientist with a particular interest in the evaluation and synthesis of evidence about health policies and complex health interventions, such as innovations in health and care service organisation and delivery. I have a long-standing interest in the use of theory-driven methods of systematic review and evidence synthesis (in particular ‘realist review’), and have applied and extended these approaches to issues of programme implementation, service changes and evidence about the resource use and cost-effectiveness of interventions and public health programmes.

I have over 25 years' experience as a health services researcher, economic evaluator, and implementation science scholar in both the UK NHS and (from 2002 to 2005) the Australian health system.

I am Director of the ESMI research group (since April 2014). Since 2017 I have also Co-led of the Exeter HS&DR Evidence Synthesis Centre. Within the university I am the Exeter theme lead for the Healthy Living theme within the QUEX Institute - our high-level strategic collaboration with the University of Queensland. Since 2022 I have chaired the university's Responsible Metrics Champions Group, which drives our shared learning and actions towards more equitable, transparent and inclusive assessment of research and researchers.

Broad research specialisms

• Systematic reviews and evidence synthesis for policy-making (especially theory-driven approaches and responsive/rapid methods for informing policy makers).
• Health services research and evaluation methodology
• Implementation Science and Knowledge Mobilisation/Translation

Recent key publications:

de Bell S, Zhelev Z, Bethel A, Thompson Coon J & Anderson R. Factors influencing effective data sharing between health care and social care regarding the care of older people: a qualitative evidence synthesis. Health Soc Care Deliv Res 2024;12(12) https://doi.org/10.3310/TTWG4738

Stephens C, Stanyer A, Anderson R, Bishop A. Changing policy landscape around elder abuse in England and Wales: Health and legal professionals must advocate together for the strongest possible safeguards [Commissioned editorial; not peer reviewed] BMJ 2024;384:q463

http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q463

Anderson R, Booth, A, Eastwood, A. et al. (2021) Synthesis for health services and policy : case studies in the scoping of reviews. Health Services and Delivery Research, 2021; 9 (15). pp. 1-84. ISSN 2050-4349 https://doi.org/10.3310/hsdr09150

Clarke L, Anderson M, Anderson R, Klausen MB, Forman R, Kerns J, Rabe A, Kristensen SR, Theodorakis P, Valderas J, Kluge H, Mossialos E. Economic Aspects of Delivering Primary Care Services: An Evidence Synthesis to Inform Policy and Research Priorities. Milbank Quarterly. 2021;99(4):974-1023. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-0009.12536

Anderson R, Hardwick R, Pearson M, Byng. 2018. Using realist approaches to explain the costs and cost-effectiveness of programmes. Chapter 8 in: Emmel N, Greenhalgh J, Manzano A, Monaghan M, and Dalkin S, eds. Doing Realist Research. Sage: London.

Qualifications:

• PhD, Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of out-of-hours dental services (Wales, 2002)
• MSc. Health Policy, Planning and Financing (LSHTM & London School of Economics, 1998)
• MA(Econ.) Applied Social Research (Manchester, 1995)
• BA(Hons) Geography (University of Oxford, 1989)

Career:

In a varied career before reinventing myself as a health services and implementation science researcher I have been: an information officer in a London local government planning department, an enumeration officer on the UK census and also qualified as a management accountant in the chemical industry.

From 1997 to 2001 I was a researcher in dental public health and an evaluator of emergency dental services (my PhD) based at Cardiff Dental School . From early 2001 to 2005 I was a research officer at the Centre for Health Economics Research and Evaluation (CHERE) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), conducting evaluations, economic evaluations and systematic reviews to inform health policy and service organisation in Australia (both for the Federal Government and State governments: NSW, Victoria and Queensland).

For the first six or so years since joining Exeter I worked mainly as a health economist, on health technology assessments (with PenTAG, mainly to inform NICE guidance) or on a range of NIHR-funded trials (especially of complex mental health interventions). From 2008 to 2011 I directed the NICE Public Health Collaborating Centre at Exeter, which produced systematic reviews and economic modelling to inform NICE public health guidance.

Since about 2010, I have increasingly specialised in (i) developing and applying diverse methods of evidence synthesis to inform health policy and practice, including; methods for so-called rapid reviews, realist reviews, and (ii) implementation science and knowledge mobilisation research.