The Invest4Health team have presented a comprehensive training programme tailored for decision-makers and policymakers to equip them with the knowledge and tools necessary to implement Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI) models. These models are designed to support Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) programmes by employing unconventional investment strategies that offer returns ranging from financial benefits to enhanced capacities or capabilities of individuals or communities for healthier behaviours.
Objectives and Target Audience
The primary objective of the training programme is to enable participants to understand, evaluate, and apply SCI models within their respective regions or organizational contexts. The focus is on fostering sustainable solutions that achieve positive health outcomes through evidence-based decision-making and strategic investment.
The programme is targeted at decision-makers and policymakers from various sectors involved in health outcomes, including healthcare, transport, housing, and education. These stakeholders, often constrained by time and resources, play crucial roles in driving initiatives at a systems level. The training aims to provide them with an understanding of SCI, problem identification and definition, team building, stakeholder management, and sustainability strategies.
Development Process
The training programme was developed by leveraging knowledge generated in the I4H project and the partners’ previous experiences. These experiences provided valuable insights into social impact bonds (SIBs), outcomes contracts (SOCs), and social impact investment. These experiences and publicly available resources have shaped the programme’s scope and content.
Training Structure and Content
The current training consists of 11 modules delivered through workshops (online and in-person) in a learn-by-doing format. As part of a continuous iteration process with regions such as Galicia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Wales, and Skåne (collectively referred to as testbeds), new modules may be added in the future.
The modules include:
- Introduction to SCI and HPDP programmes
- Identifying the problem worth solving
- Building the right team
- Defining the problem
- Defining the target population
- Defining outcomes
- Stakeholder identification, engagement, and management
- Investor/payer relations
- Defining your business model
- Financial and payment model
- Scaling and sustainability
These modules are complemented by real-world case studies, such as the Stockholm Pre-diabetes SIB, the Occupational Health SOC, and Ways to Wellness SIB, providing practical applications to ground the learning.
Pilot Testing
The training program will have a flexible structure, with participant numbers, exact training hours, and duration determined based on pilot delivery insights. The iterative development of the programme will ensure that the training effectively addresses the participants’ and local testbed communities’ specific requirements and conditions.
Delivery of the training programme has already begun, and current testbeds will focus on stakeholder management, business models, and sustainability. Key activities include managing stakeholders, iterating logic models, exploring payment models, and contacting investors.
We also aim to deliver the programme to a new tranche of testbeds to be recruited in October 2024.
