In an evolving healthcare landscape where the focus of healthcare systems extends from disease treatment onto improving the overall quality of life (QoL), measurement of treatment and health outcomes must be performed using instruments that measure the overall wellbeing of individuals. Conventional instruments that measure health-related quality of life (HRQoL) usually focus on physical health or clinical symptoms. With a growing preference for patient-centred care, there is a need for instruments that can depict a wider picture, including mental, emotional, and social well-being. The EQ Health and Wellbeing (EQ-HWB) instrument emerges in this context as a promising new measure designed to address this gap.(1)
The EQ-HWB is designed by the EuroQol Group to go beyond conventional health status indicators.(3) While instruments like the EQ-5D have predominantly been used to evaluate HRQoL in economic assessments, they often overlook critical aspects such as autonomy, relationships, or sense of purpose. The EQ-HWB incorporates these broader wellbeing dimensions into a standardized format, enabling a more robust evaluation of what truly matters to people when it comes to their health and QoL.(1-3)
Being developed for use across health, social care, and public health settings, the adaptability of EQ-HWB makes it especially significant. This makes the instrument applicable to a host of populations, not just to people with particular diseases or clinical conditions. The EQ-HWB can measure outcomes that were previously difficult to encapsulate in economic assessments or policy decisions, such as the impact of mental health services, social support interventions, or integrated care models.(1-3)
Another advantage of the robust, multidimensional EQ-HWB is its ability to guide value-based care that represents people’s lived experience, especially with the shift of health systems toward models that reward outcomes instead of activity. The instrument not only offers greater sensitivity to changes in wellbeing that are crucial for patients and service users, but also facilitates comparative effectiveness research and decisions on resource allocation aligning with holistic health goals.(1-3)
The EQ-HWB is still undergoing continuous testing and validation across regions and populations. Nevertheless, it is expected to play a significant role in health technology assessments (HTAs), cost-utility analyses, and wide-ranging assessments of health and social interventions. Its development indicates a growing realization of the multifaceted interconnection between health and wellbeing, encouraging meaningful measurements to reflect this complexity. With this, the EQ-HWB sets the scene for a future where healthcare outcomes are more aligned with what people actually value.
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References
- Brazier J, Peasgood T, Mukuria C, et al. The EQ-HWB: Overview of the Development of a Measure of Health and Wellbeing and Key Results. Value Health. 2022; 25(4):482-491.
- Peasgood T, Mukuria C, Brazier J, et al. Developing a New Generic Health and Wellbeing Measure: Psychometric Survey Results for the EQ-HWB. Value Health. 2022; 25(4):525-533.
- EQ-HWB. [Accessed online on 28th July 2025]. Available at: https://euroqol.org/research-at-euroqol/eq-hwb/