Social Value Hub
The Social Value Hub (SVH) members are health economists with national and international expertise in evaluation of public health programmes and Social Prescribing (SP) initiatives. They use evidence based approaches that span a wide range of methodologies and practices to increase knowledge and provide accountability for funding. SVH members are also accredited Social Return On Investment (SROI) practitioners and members of Social Value UK as well as members of Welsh Institute for Social Prescribing Research (WISPR).
Members use this expertise to lead and support social prescribing related projects that aim to add robust data to the knowledge base around social prescribing in terms of different models and settings, and its potential impacts.
It is recognized there is a need for robust methodological evidence to contribute to the evolving evidence base on Social Prescribing to determine that allocated public resources are effectively and efficiently utilised. (The King’s Fund, 2017). Challenges for the future will be to have a consistent approach to monitoring and evaluation based on assessing the social impacts and value of SP programmes and sharing of good practice.
A key objective of SVH is to enhance and build on established working relationships and partners – in academia, health boards, local authorities and the third sector - in this field to focus on research and evaluation agendas linked with social prescribing and particularly with health inequalities. SVH aim to gain new insights on the social value impact of social prescribing projects, pilots and other initiatives to enhance the national and international knowledge and evidence base.