What is the impact of social action befriending services at the end of life?

This document describes an evaluation of various befriending service interventions aimed at improving the quality of life for individuals in their last year of life. The interventions, which were delivered by trained volunteers, sought to provide social support and companionship to reduce loneliness and enhance well-being. Methodologically, the evaluations employed a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches, including randomized controlled trials, questionnaires, interviews, and validated scales such as the WHO QOL Bref and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Results across studies indicated a small but significant effect on the physical domain of quality of life, with certain demographics showing more pronounced benefits. While the interventions did not significantly improve overall quality of life or reduce loneliness, they did show a trend favoring the intervention and no evidence of harm. The evaluations concluded that volunteer services are valuable in providing compassionate support at the end of life, but larger trials and further research are needed to confirm findings and optimize service delivery. Additionally, the document discusses the importance of methodological rigor in palliative care research and the role of appendices in supporting the main content of scientific publications. **This summary was written by an AI model and therefore should not be considered a definitive summary of the report. If you are aware of inaccuracies, please email evaluation.registry@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.**

Description

• Lead department: Closed organisation: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
• Evaluation stage: A complete evaluation report
• Other departments: No other departments listed
• Evaluation types: Impact evaluation
• Impact methods: Randomised control trial (RCT)
• RCT methods: Wait list RCT
• Grant information: This intervention is not distributing funding via a grant
• Government Major Project information: This intervention is not a major project
• Policies: No policies provided

Event Dates

• Event Name: Publication of final results
• Event date: October 2016

Evaluation Costs

• Cost: Not provided

Evaluation sharing

• Link(s) to published report(s): Yes
• Links to evaluation plans: No link provided
• Links to published evaluations (DEBUGGING): No final report link found.
• Findings: Not provided
• Permission to share confirmed: Yes