Outcomes-focused studies are slowly emerging in this area.  It is somewhat difficult to measure impact on hard health outcomes from social interventions, as I would expect the most significant effects to take years to express themselves - as those on this list are well aware, social factors impact health in varied and complex ways.  I alluded to some of the key evidence in a practice-focused overview of social interventions published a little over a year ago: https://www.cmaj.ca/content/193/44/E1696.

The conversation about outcomes is also more complex than impact on individual patients - this is (for me) equally about political sensitization and mobilization of health providers (and maybe health systems).  It is also about fortifying communities of politically progressive health providers to advocate for change in social policy and social structures from their position as health experts.  And it is about strengthening the argument that social structures need to change for (individual and community) health reasons, not just moral or ideological reasons.

So it’s a little more complex in my mind than just looking for improvements in sugar control in diabetes.  But there are certainly people looking for evidence of those impacts, and with some degree of success.

Gary