Capturing the social value and return on investment of public health services and interventions

Abstract

Abstract The need for investment in health and well-being to achieve sustainable development and inclusive economic growth is stronger than ever in the face of multiple adversities. Making the case for investing in public health is essential. The social, economic and environmental value of public health programmes has to be embedded in every organisational balance sheet in order to progress national and international commitments; and to enable sustainable policy and action for the benefit of people, communities and societies. The WHO Collaborating Centre on Investment for Health and Well-being at Public Health Wales has developed a programme of work to assess the (social)return on investment of services and interventions. This involves looking at specific health and well-being outcomes, and estimating the wider social, economic and environmental value of the organisation and its various health protection and health improvement programmes. Specific health economics methods used will be Social/Return on Investment and Social/Cost-Benefit Analysis. The programme will generate an ’extended balance sheet’, including estimates of health and well-being outcomes and monetarising the social and environmental value. This will result in establishing the holistic economic value of Public Health Wales. Specific outputs are: a comprehensive costing model to capture input; outcome and impact maps; capturing the value of public health programmes in terms of health and well-being, as well as social, economic and environmental outcomes. Finally, a generalised framework for other similar organisations will be developed. This innovative programme aims to measure the social, economic and environmental value of Public Health Wales as a national public health institute. The developed framework can be used by other organisations across Europe to inform and guide their efforts to capture the wider social value, involve key stakeholders from the outset and achieve sustainable financing in the long run. Key messages Making the case for investing in public health by illustrating its social, economic and environmental value is vital. Social Return on Investment is an innovative and useful method to estimate the wider value of public health interventions.