From Numbers to Better Lives: How EVOSST Turns Data into Decisions

By Giuseppe Pignataro
Associate Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, University of Bologna (Italy)
Scientific Coordinator, EVOSST

How do we know if a social service really works?

For years we counted places filled, hours delivered and euros spent. Useful, yes – but incomplete. Services exist to change lives. EVOSST starts from that simple truth: success is not only about costs, but also about wellbeing.

What do we mean by ‘wellbeing’?

Think of four everyday outcomes that matter to people and communities: health and mental health, education and skills, social inclusion, and autonomy and access. If a project helps a teenager feel confident at school, reduces a parent’s anxiety, reconnects a neighbour with her community, or allows an older person to live safely at home — that is value. EVOSST makes that value visible.

So… can wellbeing be measured without becoming too technical?

Yes — by keeping the focus on people. EVOSST uses short, plain‑language questions before and after services; combines them with simple administrative data; and, where useful, adds privacy‑preserving digital traces (for example, participation patterns). We look for changes that matter: better mood and coping, stronger skills, fewer days missed at school or work, more independence in daily tasks. No jargon – just signals that people recognise in their own lives.

What is the EVOSST Value Index in a nutshell?

It is a single, easy‑to‑read score that blends two kinds of information:

1. Human outcomes in the four domains (health/mental health, skills, inclusion, autonomy);
2. Operational outcomes (reach, reliability, cost).

The Index tells a story at a glance — how much good a service is doing – while the underlying dashboard keeps the story honest with disaggregated evidence. It is not a black box; it is a bridge between data and decisions.

Can you give a concrete example?

Take an after‑school programme in a tough neighbourhood. Traditional monitoring counts how many students attend and the budget used. EVOSST adds what families care about: confidence with homework, anxiety going down, friendships going up, absences going down. If, over a term, the programme lifts skills and inclusion while keeping costs stable, its Value Index rises. The city can then decide to scale it to similar schools — because there is demonstrated wellbeing gain, not just activity.

Or consider home support for older adults. Beyond hours of care, EVOSST tracks whether people feel safer, manage medicines better, and stay at home longer. When those results improve, the Index shows it — and policymakers can invest earlier in prevention rather than later in costly hospital admissions.

Where does money come into this?

Alongside the Index, EVOSST uses a practical Social Return on Investment lens to translate some benefits into monetary terms when appropriate (for example, avoided crises, improved employability). But we do it after we have captured human outcomes, not instead of them. The message is simple: wellbeing first, euros second – both visible.

Why does this matter for public decisions?

Because smart choices need two things: clarity and comparability.

• Clarity: the Index shifts the conversation from ‘How much did we spend?’ to ‘What changed for people?’.
• Comparability: using the same four‑domain framework means a municipality can line up very different services and see where each creates the most value per euro — and for whom. That helps protect what works, fix what doesn’t, and stop what doesn’t help.

Is this only for experts?

No. The point is to be usable by frontline teams, managers, and citizens. The visuals are simple, the questions are human, and the feedback loop is fast: practitioners see which activities lift the Index and can adjust in real time. Families and communities can understand why a service is kept, redesigned, or discontinued. Accountability becomes a shared language, not a spreadsheet hidden in a drawer.

What’s innovative here?

Three things. First, we treat wellbeing as the main outcome, not an add‑on. Second, we combine people‑centred indicators with costs in one coherent view. Third, we make the method light enough to live inside real services – schools, community centres, clinics — without slowing them down.

What change do we want to see?

Imagine decisions where no good project is overlooked because its value was ‘intangible’. Imagine budgets that move toward programmes proven to increase inclusion, strengthen mental health, build skills, and support autonomy. Imagine teams learning from data that speaks the language of everyday life.

That is the promise of EVOSST: turning data into better lives, one service at a time — so that wellbeing is not a slogan, but a result we can see, measure, and grow.