ArticleBMJ open quality2025
Improving local authority financial support services for users with complex health needs: a mixed-method economic evaluation of Social Navigators in South Tyneside, UK.
Article in BMJ open quality, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Despite social prescribing being promoted by the UK government for the last decade, the evidence supporting social prescribing remains weak and has mainly been confined to clinical contexts. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of a Social Navigator (SN) service in South Tyneside on the health and well-being of users who experience financial hardship with complex health needs and limited access to mental health services.Using a mixed-methods design combining secondary analysis of service data (n=330), qualitative interviews with service users (n=15) conducted by peer researchers, and a social return On investment analysis that matched service data with health economic indicators from the UK Social Value Bank.Our findings demonstrate clear value for money with a £3 return for every £1 invested in the service, with a positive return confirmed in sensitivity analysis. SNs were able to improve the confidence of service users, with statistically significant changes across all eight confidence-related outcomes, and helped them to access other advice and financial services. This resulted in one-off financial gains (average £1237) and annual financial gains (average £1703) for service users. The interviews identified that relieving financial burden and stress improved the quality of life and mental well-being of users as a result of their involvement with the service.SN can break the cycle of multiple visits to crisis teams by building trusting relationships and providing emotional and practical support, while being responsive to the service users' needs and available when they have needs. They play a key intermediary role in integrated care systems with a unique focus on the wider determinants of health and financial hardship, advocating for service users without time limits and navigating the complexities of the system across local government. Greater integration of local support services could be achieved by mapping all available pathways for support.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.