Sarah Barber
World Health Organization
Sarah Barber
Dr Sarah Louise Barber is a health economist and policy specialist. She holds doctorate and post-doctorate qualifications from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, focusing on economic evaluation. Over the past 25 years, she has published widely on diverse topics in health economics and policy analysis, including purchasing health and long-term care services, payment reforms, quality of care and fiscal policies. Her recent publications focus on long-term care financing including a series of 11 briefs on Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings to best address the long-term care needs of older people. These were completed while she was serving as the Director of the WHO Centre for Health Development (WHO Kobe Centre) in Japan, leading the Centre’s research program on ageing, innovations and health emergencies. Before becoming Director of the Centre, she worked on strategic policy issues with the WHO in the Western Pacific, Southeast Asian, and African regions. Before working with WHO, Dr Barber carried out evaluation research at the University of California Berkeley’s Institute of Business and Economic Research, and the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico.
FURTHER INFORMATION
| Countries | Japan; |
|---|---|
| Topics | Care economy; Care innovations; Care integration/ coordination; Economics of LTC; Financing LTC; Governance and LTC systems organisation; LTC insurance; LTC Policy; LTC Reforms; LTC Systems; LTC systems in LMIC countries; LTC Workforce; |
| Methods | Case studies; Comparative policy analysis; Economic evaluation; Literature reviews and synthesis; Policy analysis; Surveys; Systematic Review; Trials and other evaluations; |
| Role | Research; |
| Interest Groups | Care and social protection in Southern Africa; Economics of Long-Term Care; Long-Term Care Policy; |
| Website | https://wkc.who.int/ |
| ORC.ID | 0000-0002-3117-2994 |
| Research interests | health economics and policy analysis, human resources, insurance and provider payment reforms, quality of care, impact evaluation, fiscal policies, long-term care financing |
| Key publications | A.C. Badache , M. Dobrosavljevic , S. Barber , Strategies to improve recruitment, retention, working conditions, and skills among the long-term care workforce: an umbrella review of existing evidence, Health policy (2025), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2025.105496 Williams, Gemma & Cylus, Jonathan & Tayara, Lynn & Roubal, Tomáš & Tsilaajav, Tsolmongerel & Barber, Sarah. Can healthy ageing moderate the effects of population ageing on economic growth and health spending trends in Mongolia? A modelling study. Health Research Policy and Systems 2022: 20, 122. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-022-00916-0. Cylus J, Williams G, Carrino L, Roubal T, Barber S. Population ageing and health financing: a method for forecasting two sides of the same coin. Health Policy 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.10.004 Cylus, J & Williams, G & Barber, S & Roubal, T. (2021). Mind the gap: population ageing and health financing sustainability. European Journal of Public Health. 31. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckab164.558. Books and reports Cylus J, Wharton G, Ilina S, Carrino L, Huber M, Barber SL, editors. The care dividend: why and how countries should invest in long-term care. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2025. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/care-dividend/care-dividend/09A8BDBFC3485481661A7026BA2862E0 Brief 1. Unlocking economic growth in an ageing world Brief 2. The vital link between long-term care and health care Brief 3. Individual health and financial well=being through robust long-term care systems Brief 4. Governments can lead on care innovation World Health Organization. (2023). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 1: drivers of the demand for long-term care. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/375891 World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 2: decisions about population coverage of long-term care. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376245 World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 3: how countries finance long-term care. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376276 . World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 4: determining the long-term care services covered in the benefits package. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376277 . World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 5: aligning financing and delivery in long-term care. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376615 . World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 6: ensuring financial protection in long-term care. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376619 . World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 7: promoting quality and value in long-term care. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376911 World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 8: ensuring financial sustainability in long-term care. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/376937 World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 9: Supporting workers in the formal long-term care system. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/378692 World Health Organization. (2024). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 10: supporting informal long-term caregivers. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/379077 World Health Organization (2025). Long-term care financing: lessons for low- and middle-income settings: brief 11: technologies for promoting healthy ageing. World Health Organization. https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/382156 Barber, Sarah L, van Gool, Kees, Wise, Sarah. et al. (2021). Pricing long-term care for older persons. World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/344505 Cylus J, Roubal T, Ong P, Barber SL. The Economics of Healthy and Active Ageing. Sustainable health financing with an ageing population: implications of different revenue raising mechanisms and policy options. European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the WHO Centre for Health Development, 2019. https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK550584/ Williams GA, Cylus J, Roubal T, Barber SL; Sagan A, Normand C, Figueras J, et al., editors. Sustainable Health Financing with an Ageing Population: Will population ageing lead to uncontrolled health expenditure growth? European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; 2019. https://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK550604/ |