Skip to main content

STUDY PROTOCOL article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1411580
This article is part of the Research Topic Parents with Mental and/or Substance Use Disorders and their Children, Volume III View all 32 articles

The Social Return on Investment in programs designed for young people living with a family member who experiences mental health challenges: Study protocol

Provisionally accepted
Andrea Erika Reupert Andrea Erika Reupert 1*Nerelie Claire Freeman Nerelie Claire Freeman 1Nivedita Nandakumar Nivedita Nandakumar 1Rochelle Hine Rochelle Hine 2Rebecca Cain Rebecca Cain 3Kim Foster Kim Foster 4
  • 1 School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, Australia
  • 2 School of Rural Health, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia
  • 3 Independent researcher, Melbourne, Australia
  • 4 School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The purpose of this paper is to describe the protocol for the evaluation of programs offered by the Satellite Foundation, designed for, and with, children and young people aged between 8 and 25 years who have family members experiencing mental health challenges. For this purpose, the Social Return on Investment (SROI) method was chosen. The purpose of this paper is to describe the study protocol for a Social Return on Investment (SROI). SROI is an economic measurement tool used to apply a monetary value to socially situated outcomes. In this study, SROI will be used to provide a means of quantifying the social impact generated by various programs offered by the Satellite Foundation, a community-based mental health organisation. These programs are designed for children and young people who have a family member who experiences mental health challenges, with the aim to promote resilience, hope and connectedness. Given that traditional financial metrics often fail to capture societal benefits, SROI offers a systematic approach to measuring the economic and often intangible social outcomes of any given endeavour. This protocol will describe the SROI method, who the stakeholders are, and how they are engaged. The rationale for the monetisation of outcomes is shown. Other SROI steps are presented, including how impact was established, and the proposed method of calculating the SROI. The limitations and potential benefits of this economic measurement approach are also discussed.

    Keywords: social return on investment, Social cost-benefit analysis, Young carer, Children, Parental mental illness

    Received: 03 Apr 2024; Accepted: 25 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Reupert, Freeman, Nandakumar, Hine, Cain and Foster. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Andrea Erika Reupert, School of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Clayton, Australia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.