F.10. Skills building seminar: Navigating trade-offs in chronic diseases screening policy using interactive simulation tools
Abstract
Decisions on population-level screening strategies are among the most complex in public health. Policymakers must balance benefits such as mortality reduction against harms, including overdiagnosis and overtreatment, while considering health inequities. Although randomised controlled trials and microsimulation models provide evidence on screening interventions, their outputs are often difficult for public health practitioners and decision-makers to interpret. Interactive simulation tools can help bridge this knowledge-to-action gap, but are not yet routinely used in public health practice, particularly in cancer screening. This workshop is intended for public health researchers, practitioners, and policy professionals interested in simulation-supported screening strategies for chronic diseases. Using prostate cancer as a case study, participants will develop transferable skills for interpreting screening trade-offs, assessing equity implications, and using simulation outputs for policy-relevant decision-making. The workshop’s added value lies in combining methodological input, epidemiological knowledge, interactive tool use, and policy reflection to make complex modelling results more accessible and actionable. The workshop begins with two short introductory presentations. First, we will discuss current challenges in the screening of cancer and other chronic diseases, with a focus on evidence-based national cancer screening strategies and novel risk-based approaches. Building on this overview, we will introduce participants to the ProstateSim tool in a second presentation to simulate the impact of selected screening strategies in populations at risk for prostate cancer. This input will enable participants, during the subsequent interactive phase of the workshop, to learn how to use tools such as the presented to translate complex model outputs into clear, decision-relevant considerations. In the interactive phase, participants will work in small groups on predefined screening scenarios using ProstateSim. Here, groups will compare age-based and risk-stratified strategies using selected outputs from the tool. The goal of this exercise is to enable participants to compare screening strategies by weighing desirable outcomes (e.g., reduced prostate cancer mortality and metastatic disease) against the abovementioned harms and to evaluate the transferability of strategies across varying cohorts. Each group will be supported by international experts from microsimulation, digital health, and chronic disease policy. A closing plenary will synthesise the group discussions, focusing on trade-offs, equity implications, transferability across policy contexts, and the relevance of simulation approaches for other chronic diseases. By the end of the workshop, participants will be better able to interpret population-level screening outcomes, critically assess visualisations of trade-offs, and understand how digital tools can support informed public health policy.
Key messages: • Interactive simulation tools can strengthen public health capacity to interpret screening trade-offs and support evidence-informed policy decisions.
• Hands-on work with screening scenarios helps participants assess benefits, harms, equity implications, and transferability across settings.
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BibTeX
@article{euphadigitalhealthaisection2026skills,
title = {{F.10. Skills building seminar: Navigating trade-offs in chronic diseases screening policy using interactive simulation tools}},
author = {EUPHA Digital Health \& AI section, EUPHA Chronic Diseases section, Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen (Germany), Western University (Canada) and Laura Maaß and Saverio Stranges},
journal = {The European Journal of Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.555},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.555},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - F.10. Skills building seminar: Navigating trade-offs in chronic diseases screening policy using interactive simulation tools
AU - EUPHA Digital Health & AI section, EUPHA Chronic Diseases section, Leibniz ScienceCampus Digital Public Health Bremen (Germany), Western University (Canada)
AU - Laura Maaß
AU - Saverio Stranges
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/01
JO - The European Journal of Public Health
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.555
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag169.555
AB - Decisions on population-level screening strategies are among the most complex in public health. Policymakers must balance benefits such as mortality reduction against harms, including overdiagnosis and overtreatment, while considering health inequities. Although randomised controlled trials and microsimulation models provide evidence on screening interventions, their outputs are often difficult for public health practitioners and decision-makers to interpret. Interactive simulation tools can help bridge this knowledge-to-action gap, but are not yet routinely used in public health practice, particularly in cancer screening. This workshop is intended for public health researchers, practitioners, and policy professionals interested in simulation-supported screening strategies for chronic diseases. Using prostate cancer as a case study, participants will develop transferable skills for interpreting screening trade-offs, assessing equity implications, and using simulation outputs for policy-relevant decision-making. The workshop’s added value lies in combining methodological input, epidemiological knowledge, interactive tool use, and policy reflection to make complex modelling results more accessible and actionable. The workshop begins with two short introductory presentations. First, we will discuss current challenges in the screening of cancer and other chronic diseases, with a focus on evidence-based national cancer screening strategies and novel risk-based approaches. Building on this overview, we will introduce participants to the ProstateSim tool in a second presentation to simulate the impact of selected screening strategies in populations at risk for prostate cancer. This input will enable participants, during the subsequent interactive phase of the workshop, to learn how to use tools such as the presented to translate complex model outputs into clear, decision-relevant considerations. In the interactive phase, participants will work in small groups on predefined screening scenarios using ProstateSim. Here, groups will compare age-based and risk-stratified strategies using selected outputs from the tool. The goal of this exercise is to enable participants to compare screening strategies by weighing desirable outcomes (e.g., reduced prostate cancer mortality and metastatic disease) against the abovementioned harms and to evaluate the transferability of strategies across varying cohorts. Each group will be supported by international experts from microsimulation, digital health, and chronic disease policy. A closing plenary will synthesise the group discussions, focusing on trade-offs, equity implications, transferability across policy contexts, and the relevance of simulation approaches for other chronic diseases. By the end of the workshop, participants will be better able to interpret population-level screening outcomes, critically assess visualisations of trade-offs, and understand how digital tools can support informed public health policy. Key messages: • Interactive simulation tools can strengthen public health capacity to interpret screening trade-offs and support evidence-informed policy decisions. • Hands-on work with screening scenarios helps participants assess benefits, harms, equity implications, and transferability across settings.
SN - 1101-1262
SN - 1464-360X
ER -