Wellbeing- What is it and how you can improve it?

  1. What is wellbeing?
  2. Why is wellbeing important?
  3. How can we measure wellbeing?
  4. How can you improve wellbeing?
  5. Useful Websites
  6. References

1) What is wellbeing?

Wellbeing is a growing area of research and a broad concept. Hence, there are many different definitions available for wellbeing.

Well-being is defined by World Health Organisation (WHO) as the following:

“A state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” World Health Organisation (WHO)

What works centre if wellbeing describes wellbeing as the following:

“Wellbeing has many facets, but the core of wellbeing relates to ‘how we are doing’ and how we assess ourselves”- What Works Centre for Wellbeing

Personal wellbeing is a particularly important dimension which we can define as the following: how satisfied we are with our lives; our sense that what we do in life is worthwhile; our day to day emotional experiences (happiness and anxiety) and our wider mental wellbeing (ONS Reflections on Measuring National Well-being 2013).

It is important to realise that what one person feels is their perfect state of wellbeing may be completely different from another person, which stands to reason as we all have different goals, ambitions and personalities. This is also why wellbeing can exist in two dimensions- Subjective wellbeing and objective wellbeing.

Subjective wellbeing (or personal wellbeing) asks people directly how they think and feel about their own wellbeing, and includes aspects such as life satisfaction (evaluation), positive emotions (hedonic), and whether their life is meaningful (eudemonic).

Objective wellbeing is based on assumptions about basic human needs and rights, including aspects such as adequate food, physical health, education, safety etc.  Objective wellbeing can be measured through self-report (e.g., asking people whether they have a specific health condition), or through more objective measures (e.g., mortality rates and life expectancy).

2) Why is wellbeing important?

  • Health is one of the top things people say matter to their wellbeing. There is a two way relationship between wellbeing and health: health influences wellbeing and wellbeing itself influences health.
  • There is a strong positive relationship between being satisfied and improved performance at work.
  • Improved wellbeing can improve you quality of life and life satisfaction.
  • Reduced likelihood of developing stress, anxiety and depression.
  • Decreased working days lost due to stress, anxiety and depression.

3) How can we measure wellbeing?

There are several methods to measure wellbeing; I have named two common methods below.

–The ONS 4’ questions:

The Office for National Statistics (ONS 4) uses four survey questions to measure personal well-being as illustrated below. People are asked to respond to the questions on a scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is “not at all” and 10 is “completely”.

  1. Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
  2. Overall, to what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
  3. Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
  4. Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?

–The Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS):

WEMWBS is a scale which has been validated for the measurement of mental wellbeing among people aged 13 to 74 in the UK. It is 14 positively worded statements with five response categories from ‘none of the time’ to ‘all of the time’.

The WEMWBS measures mental wellbeing which is one aspect of overall wellbeing (others include physical and social aspects of wellbeing). Mental wellbeing is often divided into two perspectives: one which includes states of happiness and life satisfaction (the hedonic perspective), and the other which includes positive psychological functioning, good relationships with others and self-realisation/acceptance (the eudemonic perspective).

4) How can you improve wellbeing?

The Five Ways to Well-being were developed by the New Economics Foundation, from evidence gathered in the UK government’s Foresight Project on Mental Capital and Wellbeing. The Project, published in 2008, drew on state-of-the-art research about mental capital and mental wellbeing through life. The New Economics Foundation to developed Five Ways to Wellbeing to communicate its key findings (the following information from NHS.uk and mind.org.uk).

  1. Connect– connect with the people around you: your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Spend time developing these relationships.

There is strong evidence that indicates that feeling close to, and valued by, other people is a fundamental human need and one that contributes to functioning well in the world.

It’s clear that social relationships are critical for promoting wellbeing and for acting as a buffer against mental ill health for people of all ages.

Good relationships are important for your mental wellbeing. They can:

  • help you to build a sense of belonging and self-worth
    • give you an opportunity to share positive experiences
    • provide emotional support and allow you to support others
  • Be active– you don’t have to go to the gym. Take a walk, go cycling or play a game of football. Find an activity that you enjoy and make it a part of your life.

Regular physical activity is associated with lower rates of depression and anxiety across all age groups.

Exercise is essential for slowing age-related cognitive decline and for promoting well-being.

But it doesn’t need to be particularly intense for you to feel good – slower-paced activities, such as walking, can have the benefit of encouraging social interactions as well providing some level of exercise.

  • Keep learning– learning new skills can give you a sense of achievement and a new confidence. So why not sign up for that cooking course, start learning to play a musical instrument, or figure out how to fix your bike?

Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interaction and a more active life.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the opportunity to engage in work or educational activities particularly helps to lift older people out of depression.

The practice of setting goals, which is related to adult learning in particular, has been strongly associated with higher levels of wellbeing.

  • Give to others– even the smallest act can count whether it’s a smile, a thank you or a kind word. Larger acts, such as volunteering at your local community centre, can improve your mental wellbeing and help you build new social networks.

Participation in social and community life has attracted a lot of attention in the field of wellbeing research.

Individuals who report a greater interest in helping others are more likely to rate themselves as happy.

Research into actions for promoting happiness has shown that committing an act of kindness once a week over a six-week period is associated with an increase in wellbeing.

  • Be mindful/Take notice– be more aware of the present moment, including your thoughts and feelings, your body and the world around you. Some people call this awareness “mindfulness”. It can positively change the way you feel about life and how you approach challenges.

Reminding yourself to ‘take notice’ can strengthen and broaden awareness.

Studies have shown that being aware of what is taking place in the present directly enhances your well-being and savouring ‘the moment’ can help to reaffirm your life priorities.

Heightened awareness also enhances your self-understanding and allows you to make positive choices based on your own values and motivations.

                 “Engagement with meaningful activities can increase a sense of wellbeing“

5) Other ways to improve wellbeing

  1. Designing personal values.
  2. Mindfulness.
  3. Sleep (aim 7-9 hours but can vary depending on age, illness and routine).
  4. Talk about your mental health.
  5. Happier@work programme/courses-
    1. London Southbank University evaluated the Happier@Work programme and found an increase in staff wellbeing. The training sessions helped staff with managing stress and for managers to better support their team’s wellbeing. Staff attending the mindfulness course reported feeling more mindful. Happier@Work also resulted in an increase in staff who would recommend their Trust as a place to work.
    2. The courses include:
      1. Stress Awareness: learn more about stress  and equip yourself with coping strategies (half day).
      2. Building Resilience and Wellbeing in the Workplace: for individuals to increase workplace resilience and wellbeing for themselves and their colleagues (half day).
      3. Flourishing in the Workplace: use the science of positive psychology to help you and your colleagues build resilience and flourish at work (full day).
      4. Developing and Managing the Wellbeing Workplace: for managers to increase their confidence and skills in developing and managing workplace mental wellbeing (half day).
      5. Masterclass for Managing Staff Wellbeing: for managers to develop tools to support their team and their own mental health (full day).
      6. Mindfulness: to enable you to put in place your own mindfulness practice (eight week course).

6) Useful websites

  • https://www.good-thinking.uk/
    • Intuitive, easy to use online service which will help you find tools and information to support your wellbeing, including topics like getting a better night’s sleep, right through to completing a clinically approved self-assessment.
  • https://www.mentalhealthatwork.org.uk/
    • Resources, toolkits, blogs and case studies for individual staff, managers and organisations all focussed on wellbeing at work.
  • https://www.yougotthiswellness.com/
    • Resources for staff working in emergency medicine on keeping well focussed on the five ways to wellbeing and links to accessing support.
  • https://www.mind.org.uk/

7) References

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