Abstract
Background:
Increased levels of physical activity are associated with decreased levels of anxiety and with improved wellbeing. Individuals who experience low mental wellbeing have a shorter life expectancy, tend to neglect physical health and lead sedentary lifestyles.
The Opening Doors to the Outdoors (ODO) programme is aimed at inactive individuals who experience low mental wellbeing in North Wales. The ODO programme is a 12-week walking and climbing intervention which provides people with low mental wellbeing the opportunity to increase physical activity, confidence, self-esteem and quality of life in a supportive environment enabling socialisation with peers.
Aim:
The purpose of this evaluation is to estimate the social return on investment (SROI) of the ODO programme by comparing the costs of delivering the programme with the monetised outcomes experienced by ODO clients in terms of improved mental wellbeing, physical activity, social trust and overall health.
Methods:
The SROI of ODO programme was conducted between April 2022 and November 2022 by the Social Value Hub at the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation (CHEME) at Bangor University. The SROI evaluation involved a mixed method approach with data collected from baseline and follow-up questionnaires as well as from semi-structured interviews.
Questionnaires included four outcome measures:
Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ-SF), New Economics Foundation (NEF) social trust question, and an overall health question. Wellbeing valuation methods were used to quantify and value these four outcomes.
SROI ratios were generated from two separate wellbeing valuation methods: one from the Social Value Calculator v.4.0 (HACT, 2018) and the other from the Mental Health Social Value Calculator v.1.0 (HACT, 2017). Both calculators are derived from wellbeing valuation, a consistent and robust method recommended in the HM Treasury Green Book (2022) for measuring social cost-benefit analysis.
Results:
75 clients completed baseline questionnaires and 52 clients (69%) completed follow-up questionnaires. The results showed that for every £1 invested in ODO programmes, £4.90 to £5.36 of social value was generated for stakeholders. In addition, interviews with clients indicated improved mental wellbeing, increased physical activity, more social trust and better overall health.
Discussion:
This was one of the first studies to use wellbeing valuation in estimating the social value to clients who participated in outdoor walking or climbing programmes. Several previous studies have estimated the SROI of outdoor walking interventions. However, these studies used more subjective valuation methods to calculate SROI ratios.
The reliability of the results in this ODO evaluation may have been limited due to the lack of a control group. However, the HACT Mental Health Social Value Calculator considered this by subtracting a ‘deadweight’ percentage of 27% from the total social value. Similarly, the HACT Social Value Calculator subtracted percentages for deadweight, attribution and displacement to avoid overestimating the social value generated from the programme.
Although the ODO programme generated a positive social value for client outcomes, ODO clients did not report a reduction in their use of NHS mental health services. As this evaluation was only for eight months, future studies should measure client health service resource use over a longer period of time.
Conclusion:
The results showed that the ODO programme generated a positive social value to clients. Quantitative and qualitative data from baseline and follow-up questionnaires indicated that many clients improved in mental wellbeing, physical activity, social trust, and overall health.
Increased levels of physical activity are associated with decreased levels of anxiety and with improved wellbeing. Individuals who experience low mental wellbeing have a shorter life expectancy, tend to neglect physical health and lead sedentary lifestyles.
The Opening Doors to the Outdoors (ODO) programme is aimed at inactive individuals who experience low mental wellbeing in North Wales. The ODO programme is a 12-week walking and climbing intervention which provides people with low mental wellbeing the opportunity to increase physical activity, confidence, self-esteem and quality of life in a supportive environment enabling socialisation with peers.
Aim:
The purpose of this evaluation is to estimate the social return on investment (SROI) of the ODO programme by comparing the costs of delivering the programme with the monetised outcomes experienced by ODO clients in terms of improved mental wellbeing, physical activity, social trust and overall health.
Methods:
The SROI of ODO programme was conducted between April 2022 and November 2022 by the Social Value Hub at the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation (CHEME) at Bangor University. The SROI evaluation involved a mixed method approach with data collected from baseline and follow-up questionnaires as well as from semi-structured interviews.
Questionnaires included four outcome measures:
Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ-SF), New Economics Foundation (NEF) social trust question, and an overall health question. Wellbeing valuation methods were used to quantify and value these four outcomes.
SROI ratios were generated from two separate wellbeing valuation methods: one from the Social Value Calculator v.4.0 (HACT, 2018) and the other from the Mental Health Social Value Calculator v.1.0 (HACT, 2017). Both calculators are derived from wellbeing valuation, a consistent and robust method recommended in the HM Treasury Green Book (2022) for measuring social cost-benefit analysis.
Results:
75 clients completed baseline questionnaires and 52 clients (69%) completed follow-up questionnaires. The results showed that for every £1 invested in ODO programmes, £4.90 to £5.36 of social value was generated for stakeholders. In addition, interviews with clients indicated improved mental wellbeing, increased physical activity, more social trust and better overall health.
Discussion:
This was one of the first studies to use wellbeing valuation in estimating the social value to clients who participated in outdoor walking or climbing programmes. Several previous studies have estimated the SROI of outdoor walking interventions. However, these studies used more subjective valuation methods to calculate SROI ratios.
The reliability of the results in this ODO evaluation may have been limited due to the lack of a control group. However, the HACT Mental Health Social Value Calculator considered this by subtracting a ‘deadweight’ percentage of 27% from the total social value. Similarly, the HACT Social Value Calculator subtracted percentages for deadweight, attribution and displacement to avoid overestimating the social value generated from the programme.
Although the ODO programme generated a positive social value for client outcomes, ODO clients did not report a reduction in their use of NHS mental health services. As this evaluation was only for eight months, future studies should measure client health service resource use over a longer period of time.
Conclusion:
The results showed that the ODO programme generated a positive social value to clients. Quantitative and qualitative data from baseline and follow-up questionnaires indicated that many clients improved in mental wellbeing, physical activity, social trust, and overall health.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Place of Publication | Bangor |
| Publisher | Bangor University |
| Number of pages | 27 |
| Publication status | Published - 15 Dec 2022 |
Keywords
- social return on investment (SROI)
- social prescribing
- health and wellbeing
- physical activity
- outdoors
