EVOSST and MH4U Explore Collaboration on SROI-Based Social Services Evaluation

In July 2026, representatives of the EVOSST project met with the Mental Health for Ukraine (MH4U) team to explore potential areas for collaboration and exchange expertise on the evaluation of social services.

MH4U is a Swiss-Ukrainian project supporting systemic change in mental health care in Ukraine. Its work focuses on mental health reform, capacity-building for professionals, and the generation of evidence-based information to support decision-making and policy development.

During the meeting, MH4U representatives presented one of their future areas of work: a comprehensive assessment of the life-changing impact of supported living services for people who had previously spent many years in institutional care. The initiative aims to go beyond conventional economic evaluation by examining the wider value created by community-based services for service users, local communities, and the health and social care system as a whole.

This led to a discussion on the Social Return on Investment (SROI) framework being developed within EVOSST. Participants explored the potential for adapting elements of the EVOSST SROI approach to the Ukrainian context, particularly as a means of demonstrating the broader social value of community-based services and supporting evidence-informed policy development.

The discussion highlighted the value of closer cooperation between EVOSST and MH4U, including opportunities for knowledge exchange, methodological learning and coordination of future activities. The two projects agreed to establish an ongoing communication channel to facilitate this exchange and explore possible future joint actions.

The meeting represents an important first step towards closer cooperation between initiatives working on related challenges in the transformation and evaluation of social services. It also contributes to the wider European discussion on how to better capture and communicate the social, economic and human impact of community-based services.

As a concrete outcome of the meeting, EVOSST and MH4U agreed to work towards a joint dialogue with key stakeholders during 2026–2027, aiming to contribute evidence and methodological insights to future policy discussions on social services at both national and European levels.