The costs and the benefits of tackling social isolation: Evaluating Ageing Better Isle of Wight

Ageing Better Isle of Wight (known as Age Friendly Island) is a 5 year Ageing Better partnership funded by The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF). The Programme is made up of a number of projects run by a range of voluntary and community sector and private organisations that are working to reduce social isolation and increase the health and wellbeing of older people on the Isle of Wight.

This report considers the costs and the benefits of the work delivered by the projects through looking at:

1. Project unit costs: An estimate of the cost per participant of each project
2. Costed case studies: Four case studies that provide an illustration of the costs to the public purse that can be avoided through the work of the projects
3. Potential costs prevented: A consideration of the costs to the public purse that would need to be avoided to match the costs of funding a number of the projects

The report shows that the projects are delivering support, advice and interventions at a low unit cost per project. Through preventative work, costs such as residential care, treatment for depression, GP use and unemployment benefits are being avoided. This suggests that the Ageing Better Isle of Wight Programme offers value for money and has potentially saved significant costs, particularly to the health and social care sectors on the Isle of Wight.

This is part of the local evaluation of Age Friendly Island. More information about the findings so far can be found in our interim reports and a ‘Participant Journey’ report.