Social return on investment analysis of an art group for people with dementia

Funding bodies require interventions to show value for money before further investment is made. Although cost-effectiveness analysis is widely used in economic evaluation it might not capture the social value generated by certain interventions. Here, we describe Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis of the Dementia and Imagination study. SROI is similar to cost–benefit analysis in that inputs and outputs are converted into a monetary value; however, SROI also attempts to capture the social value generated. Although SROI has been used in the education and non-profit sectors, it is still relatively unused for the evaluation of health and social care interventions, partly because the valuation of outputs can be subjective.