Return on investment evaluation of the American cancer society hope lodge program

Description:

Across the US and Puerto Rico, the American Cancer Society (ACS) provides free accommodation, a full spectrum of supportive services and activities at the 31 Hope Lodges (HL) for cancer patients and caregivers who seek treatment at medical facilities forty or more miles away from their homes.

Issues:

The financial commitment borne by ACS to operate the HL program is substantial. A return on investment (ROI) evaluation was conducted to identify all the components associated with the returns and investments associated with the HL programs in order to inform future ACS HL program expansion and in defining partnership strategies with external providers. The HL programs in Atlanta, Boston and New York City were chosen as part of this ROI evaluation.

Results:

The ROI evaluation demonstrated that all three HL programs yielded positive returns for 2011. For every 1 USD invested in the HL programs, 1.21 to 1.97 USD was returned in accommodations, donations, volunteer services, and activities.

Recommendations:

The methodology used in this evaluation can be extended for all existing HL programs to provide a more complete understanding on the return ACS receives for the HL investment. Understanding how the variability of ROIs across other HL is associated with differences in geographic locality and HL characteristics will assist ACS in assessing future investments and HL locations.

In addition, the ROI evaluation can be extended to other non-tangible returns like patients' and caregivers' psychosocial benefits and ACS brand value achieved through the HL program.