The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #56211

Cecilia R. Edwards, MBA, Business Bridges Inc., 1244 Regents Park Court, De Soto, TX 75115, Kristin M. Ferguson, MSW, School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Arlington, 4103 Cottage Lane, Annandale, VA 22003, and Mark J. DeHaven, PhD, Department of Family Practice and Community Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 6263 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75390-9067, 214-648-1046, mark.dehaven@UTSouthwestern.edu.

Increasingly, social-program evaluations must be able to determine whether a program is a sensible social investment. Since funding entities and community stakeholders consider their grants and donations to be forms of investment, it is increasingly important to demonstrate how the community will benefit from the effects of funding one program over another. Projects that can demonstrate a community benefit beyond the direct effects of their program, can improve life in their target community while increasing their likelihood of obtaining funding.

Project Access (PA), a CDC-sponsored program serving the uninsured, working poor in Central Dallas, has developed and tested an innovative Social Return On Investment (SROI) model. For each dollar invested in Project Access, the model quantifies and monetizes the accompanying social benefit returned to society for patients’ increased access to health care. A pilot study (N=100) was conducted in order to specify and test the SROI model. Data were collected from PA families regarding work performance, school attendance among children, and civic engagement. Findings indicate that Project Access effectively generates positive externalities in patients’ reduced absenteeism from work, children’s reduced absenteeism from school and families’ increased participation in civic life. A single SROI value is presented and discussed.

The PA SROI model can be replicated by other Project Access programs, public health, and social service programs to demonstrate their programs' impact on the community. Similarly, continuation funding can be justified with data indicating that programs are producing positive social returns on investment.

Learning Objectives:

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant (learner) will be able to:
• Articulate the components of the Social Return on Investment Framework and discuss its advantages to traditional social-program evaluations.
• Identify five quantifiable indicators within the realms of work, school and civic engagement that can be analyzed for their social returns by an SROI model.
• Describe the process of capturing, quantifying and monetizing the social gain generated by faith-based health programs.
• Design and apply an SROI model demonstrating the social benefit garnered by society for patients’ increased access to health care services in their own community.

Keywords: Evaluation, Community Benefits

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.