5. Why wellbeing?
Understanding progress at a national level
Gross national product does not allow for
the health of our children, the quality of
their education or the joy of their play. It
does not include the beauty of our poetry
or the strength of our marriages, the
intelligence of our public debate or the
integrity of our public officials. It measures
neither our wit nor our courage, neither
our wisdom nor our learning, neither our
compassion nor our devotion to our
country, it measures everything in short,
except that which makes life worthwhile.
Robert Kennedy
University of Kansas, March 18, 1968
14. Education
& Skills
Environment
Health
Our
Relationships
Economy
Governance Personal Finance
What we do Where we live
UK National Measurement Programme
‘How we are doing’ as individuals, communities and as a nation
and how sustainable this is for the future
Personal
wellbeing
• Informed by national debate
• Measuring what people say
matters to them
• Related frameworks for
Children and Young People
10 domains
41 indicators
Which of these are relevant for your project or policy?
Indicators and frameworks
18. What is important for wellbeing: a LA Level
• Based on consultation
with data users
• Finding indicators
which are already
available
• Most important factors
will vary by Local
Authority: core plus
additional indicators
Website: Evidence + Resources
Indicators and frameworks
20. Case Study: Action to improve wellbeing
Local Authority Indicators in Action:
Gloucestershire
• Thinking across services to achieve
outcomes
• Importance of multi-agency projects
• Comparing with similar CCGs and relative
performance
Indicators and frameworks
22. Section | title
What is community wellbeing?
What is community wellbeing? | Community wellbeing
It’s something more than the sum of peoples’ individual
wellbeing (which can be thought of as ‘population wellbeing’).
23. 21
Section | title
What is community wellbeing?
What is community wellbeing? | Community wellbeing
There are two ways we can think about community wellbeing:
How aspects of the community
impact on an individual’s wellbeing.
This concept is concerned with how
the way that we live together (whether
that’s crime rates, or local heritage)
affects our own personal wellbeing.
The end-point of interest is the
individual. Most current uses of
community wellbeing use this concept.
The wellbeing of the community
itself. This concept looks beyond
the individual to a sense of being
and feeling together. It fits with
social theory which rejects the idea
of autonomous, independent
individuals and sees people
instead as relational and inter-
dependent.
Both of these concepts are valid, and which one is most appropriate will depend on ideology, politics and
the community itself.
24. Section | title
Defining and assessing…
Our working definition| Community wellbeing
We have chosen this this broad, working definition to guide our thinking:
“Community wellbeing is the combination of social, economic, environmental, cultural, and political conditions
identified by individuals and their communities as essential for them to flourish and fulfil their potential.”
[Wiseman and Brasher, 2008: 358]
Indicators for community wellbeing can be split according
to different aspects of life, but usually includes health,
economy, social relations and security.
Some important aspects that are often left out include:
• sustainability
• inequality
• intangible cultural heritage: practices, skills
• inter-generational relations.
25. …and understanding how we may influence change
Forthcoming:
What works: Improving
social relations
What works:
Community decision-
making
Indicators and frameworks
29. For projects or policies, there are intermediate steps
Indicators and frameworks
Education
Having access to a park
Playing football
Increasing employability
Wellbeing
Increasing confidence
Measuring what people say
matters to themSinging together
Connection and relations with
others
Sense of belonging
Improving job conditions
30. Case Studies: Action to improve wellbeing
National Citizenship Service
• Our relationships: Teamwork and
communication
• Where we live and what we do
Choirs in Care Homes
• Our relationships: Preventing social isolation
• What we do: Enjoyment, Relaxation, Meaning, Belonging
WellbeingWellbeing
Internal resources
Indicators and frameworks
External conditionsParticular ‘domains’
What is your impact on…
?
32. discussion
How does your policy or programme
improve (or decrease) wellbeing?
5 mins discussion in groups
5 mins feedback
Your policy or project
What could be some of the unexpected
pathways into changing wellbeing?
for example, is there a determinant of wellbeing you may
indirectly impact?
36. Evidence summaries
• Things outside ourselves: changes to external conditions. This may
include living and working conditions, our social networks;
• Personal lifestyle factors and the choice of activities we undertake;
• Things internal to us: changes to how we experience these
conditions, for example through feeling supported or even
psychological therapy.
On website: Evidence+Resources
Resources
37. We can begin to build up overall messages
What works for whom, where, why… and what steps
On website: Evidence+Resources
Resources
40. discussion
What evidence, data, information, tools
would you need so you could improve
wellbeing even further?
5mins discussion in groups
Collect a postcard at lunch
Thoughts on postcards and drop at the What Works
Centre for Wellbeing table
Your policy or project
43. Who is the guide for? | measuring what matters
who is it
for?
• Small or medium-sized charities and
social enterprises who want to
understand the relationship between
their organisation’s activities and
people’s wellbeing
• Anyone who has ‘reporting’ or
‘evaluation’ or ‘impact’ somewhere in
their job description
44. How can you use it? | measuring what matters
1. What is wellbeing and why should you
measure it?
2. Measuring wellbeing
• Planning and designing evaluations
• Practical considerations
3. Wellbeing survey questions
• Recommended questions
• Intermediate outcomes
• Writing your own questions
• Open questions
4. Survey Builder
5. Analysing your results
Content
45. How can you use it? | measuring what matters
1. Interactive: uses videos and links to give continuous support
and feedback
2. Case study: one realistic example running throughout to
show possible user journey
3. Progress tracker: gives user a sense of progress and learning
4. Ready to go: Survey Builder and slide set can be tailored by
user and downloaded for immediate use
5. Feedback and questions: link for users to instantly email the
Centre
Sign up for evidence alerts to receive the link to the handbook
Features
46. What else? | measuring what matters
Measuring Wellbeing Series: discussion papers from an
academic and practitioner perspective
Case studies: across national, local, project level
Sector perspective: a wellbeing lens in the third sector
Expert network: sign up on website - ‘evidence into
action’
Practical questions: How to implement Personal
Wellbeing questions in your survey (ONS)
Further resources
Call for challenges in wellbeing evaluation