ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the neglect of psychology by health economics and suggests that marrying the top-down approach of economics with the bottom-up approach of psychologists will lead to a more applicable and usable discipline. Health economists also need to keep an eye on work by economic psychologists, who are just beginning to take an interest in health matters. This approach is non-normative, empirical and has the individual subjective experience of health as its starting point. It puts the individual at the heart of the research programme and treats them as a consumer of goods and services. It is early days yet, but so far this approach has identified different behavioural styles of healthcare consumers, perceptions of the quality of service provided by GPs and insight into the subjective experience of health and illness.
