Could you tell us a bit more about your background and how you came to join LSHTM?

I hold a BA (Hons) in Economics from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana, and a Master of Public Health degree with a specialisation in Health Economics from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Before joining the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), I worked as a Research Fellow in Health Economics and Environmental Health at the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) in Ghana. I was part of the KHRC’s Environmental Health Unit, and our research mostly focused on monitoring household air pollution exposures and its impact on maternal, neonatal, and children’s health.

At the Unit, we studied the socio-economic dynamics of clean cookstove adoption and sustained use among households in rural settings in Ghana. I was also involved in research on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, the utilisation of electronic health data for health service decision-making, and economic evaluations. I first heard of LSHTM when I started working at the KHRC in 2010 and since then, I’ve had the aspiration to join. When I got the opportunity to apply and study at the school, I seized it without hesitation.

You’re currently completing your PhD on measuring and valuing adolescent quality of life in Uganda. Could you tell us a bit more this field, and what you’re specifically working on?

Adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries like Uganda face numerous challenges related to menstruation and, despite growing global attention, there is still limited evidence on how menstrual health influences broader aspects of adolescent girls' well-being and quality of life (QoL).

With my research, I am assessing the association between menstrual health factors and the QoL and well-being of adolescent girls, using the Child Health Utility 9 Dimension (CHU9D) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) measure of subjective well-being. The CHU9D is a preference-based health-related quality of life tool used to assess the quality of life of children and adolescents. However, this tool has not been validated for use in Uganda. There are also no Ugandan or African-specific utility values for the tool.

As part of my research, I am validating and generating utility values for the CHU9D among adolescents in Uganda. These values are needed to convert responses from the CHU9D tool into comparable quality-of-life scores. The values can also be used to estimate Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) for the economic evaluation of interventions for adolescents. 

What inspired you to choose this particular topic for your PhD?

I’ve always been passionate about improving adolescent quality of life and well-being. Growing up as a female in Ghana, I witnessed firsthand how menstrual health challenges affect the lives of adolescent girls—not just physically, but in ways that impact their education, confidence, and overall well-being. And  through my previous research on adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Ghana, I became increasingly interested in understanding how the challenges adolescents face in their everyday lives affect their quality of life and well-being and how these can be improved.

Whilst many interventions often focus on physical health or access to services, we don’t always capture how young people perceive their own health and quality of life, especially in Africa. Quality-of-life tools have been developed for this purpose over the years, but these tools are rarely validated or used in Africa, and in many instances, there are no utility values specific to African populations.

This gap raises vital questions: how can we advocate and prioritise interventions for young people if we cannot evaluate them using culturally relevant tools? How can we conduct interventions without context-specific utility values to assess their cost-effectiveness? Without these answers, interventions risk being undervalued or underfunded. Addressing these gaps and helping to build a stronger evidence base for interventions to enhance adolescents’ quality of life and well-being is what inspired me to undertake this PhD. 

What impact do you hope your research will have in the future?

My research will provide evidence that can inform future health interventions and policies to improve the quality of life and well-being of adolescents, especially in Uganda and other low-middle-income settings.  My findings on the association between menstrual health factors and adolescent girls’ quality of life and well-being can inform the prioritisation and funding of menstrual health interventions for adolescent girls. By validating the CHU9D and generating utility values among Ugandan adolescents, I hope to encourage wider use of the CHU9D in Uganda and other African contexts.

What other activities are you working on at LSHTM?

I recently attended the 7th African Health Economics Association (AfHEA) conference in Kigali, Rwanda, where I presented my findings on the association between menstrual health factors and the subjective well-being of adolescent girls in Uganda. My abstract on estimating values for the CHU9D in Uganda has been accepted for an oral presentation at the upcoming International Health Economics Association (IHEA) Congress in Bali, which I am really looking forward to.

I have also taken on tutoring roles at LSHTM, supporting both in-person and distance-learning students. Last term, I was fortunate to receive teaching mentorship from Prof. Tim Powel and Prof. Catherine Pitt, which was such an enriching experience.

How does being a GHECO member support your work?

Being a GHECO member, I count myself lucky to have the opportunity to speak with health economists who each have expertise, working on a variety of topics. There is always an opportunity to share ideas with people for feedback, resources, and mentorship. Having this group has been important in shaping my ideas and my academic journey so far.

Do you have any advice for anyone who is interested in pursuing health economics research?

I would say health economics is an interesting and broad field. It isn’t just about health financing or cost and cost-effectiveness analysis. There is a wide range of topics to explore. Once you get into it, you’ll start to see economics everywhere. Take time to research the field, find the area that excites you most, and go for it.

What do you like doing outside of LSHTM?

I love to go for long walks and listen to music. It’s the perfect break from the long hours spent working on my laptop, allows me to connect with my outdoor environment, and relax my mind.

Would you like to add anything else?

I would like to thank my supervisors, Dr. Giulia Greco and Professor Helen Weiss, and my advisors for their incredible guidance. I am also grateful to my funders, Reckitt, for their generous support.

How can people get in touch with you?

Rebecca.prah@lshtm.ac.uk

http://linkedin.com/in/rebecca-k-d-prah-b4a775120