Prevention of Poor Physical and Mental Health through the Green Social Prescribing Opening Doors to the Outdoors Programme: A Social Return on Investment Analysis

Abstract

There is growing interest in green social prescribing and connecting with nature-based activities to promote social cohesion along with improving levels of health, wealth and well-being. The Outdoor Partnership is a third sector organisation based in North Wales offering nature based social prescribing interventions. Individuals experiencing poor mental health and wellbeing are referred from GPs, community mental health services, and third sector organisations to the ‘Opening the Doors to the Outdoors’ (ODO) programme which is a 12-week outdoor walking and climbing green prescribing intervention. The purpose of the ODO programme is to provide a supportive environment to increase levels of physical activity among participants leading to improvements in overall health and mental wellbeing while promoting socialisation among peers. In this evaluation of a preventative green social prescribing intervention, a mixed method social return on investment (SROI) approach used quantitative and qualitative data from ODO participants. Data collection took place from April 2022–November 2022. Mental wellbeing data was collected at baseline and at 12 weeks using the Short Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, a social trust question, an overall health question, and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire- short form. Baseline and follow-up data was available for 52 ODO participants. Results indicate that for every £1 invested in the ODO programme, social values ranging from £4.90 to £5.36 were generated.

Prospects and Aspirations for Workforce Training and Education in Social Prescribing

“…Following referral, a “What matters?” conversation occurs to co-produce solutions with individuals which are focused on empowering and connecting individuals to local community assets. This active involvement within the community assists in accessing local social and community supports such as information advice, social and physical activities and lifestyle behaviour support which assist in improving health and wellbeing outcomes [ 32 ].…”

Nature-based social prescribing programmes: opportunities, challenges, and facilitators for implementation

“…SCBA can determine whether the benefits of a programme offset the costs and convert this into monetary terms (94). Methodologically, Social Return on Investment (SROI) evaluation, when incorporated into a co-designed and co-produced approach from the outset (95), can be used to calculate monetary values for a wide range of outcomes of NBSP programmes, whether these already have a financial value or not. SROI analysis produces a description of how a NBSP programme generates value for key stakeholders and provides a Social Value Ratio, indicating how much social value (in £) is generated for every £1 of investment.…”

“…SROI analysis produces a description of how a NBSP programme generates value for key stakeholders and provides a Social Value Ratio, indicating how much social value (in £) is generated for every £1 of investment. For every £1 invested in a preventative NBSP, the social values generated range from £4.90 to £9.30 along with enhancing social cohesion, improving levels of health, wealth, and wellbeing (50,95).…”