Understandings of well-being: Implications for public policy

Joanne Wilson: This seminar explores the Government’s current desire to measure the nation’s well-being. Well-being is a complex and nebulous concept and different people will use different words to describe it. While this lack of clarity has not hampered our ability to measure the construct, it does pose significant implications for its use as a public health goal. Based on a conceptual map, we discuss how two different discourses (i.e. the individual and the collective) can shape the types of policies developed, the targets set, and the choice of indicators used and the types of interventions applied to advance well-being. This seminar took place on 5 July 2012. Download: Policy Briefing Powerpoint Presentation