Making the business case for social needs interventions — An update

During the past three years, we have spoken with leaders of health care and community-based organizations interested in developing partnerships to address social determinants of health for the high-need, high-cost populations they serve. To do so, these leaders need information on what works and the expected impact from investments.

To help in these efforts, the Commonwealth Fund is publishing an updated evidence guide of 80 studies of social needs interventions for adults with complex health and social needs, specifically the impact on health care utilization and costs. The guide is organized into seven sections: housing, home modifications, nutrition, transportation, legal and financial counseling, social isolation and loneliness (new in this edition), and cross-cutting care management programs.

Our focus on health care utilization and cost impact for adults with complex needs is intended to help organizations make a business case for delivering social services. These data can be used as inputs for a Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator to inform program planning and in negotiating financially sustainable contractual relationships. In our work with the ROI Calculator, we learned that decision-makers often lacked benchmarks on program impact and costs, which inspired us to create the evidence guide as a companion resource.