Socially engaged photography and wellbeing: reflections on a case study in the northwest of England

This paper describes a 9-month project commissioned by Halton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Liverpool photography organisation, Open Eye Gallery. Socially engaged photographers worked with local residents from the Windmill Hill estate in Runcorn to describe healthy and unhealthy aspects of the area. Six women were trained to use cameras to document everyday things that mattered to them. Through focus groups they discussed what these photographs revealed about the health and ill-health of the area. The resulting exhibition, As and When, told their story. Despite being a deprived area with more than average incidence of illness, they identified many positive things that enhanced their sense of wellbeing and resilience. The benefits of the project included increased social engagement and participation, an improved sense of vitality and rejuvenation, emotional benefits, a feeling of greater political agency and increased visual literacy. This paper outlines the model of practice developed with the support of CCG and in collaboration with local stakeholders. It makes a case for the value and the ways in which clusters of general practices could develop links and work with health assets in their local communities

Health Coaching Case Report: Optimizing Employee Health and Wellbeing in Organizations

Abstract Health and wellbeing of employees has a direct correlation to organizational performance. It is essential that organizations and successful leaders prioritize the health and wellbeing of all employees – from the C-suite to entry level positions. As rates of stress, chronic illness, and unhealthy lifestyle choices continue to increase, it is imperative that organizations discover strategies that cultivate employee wellbeing. Employees with high wellbeing are more engaged, productive, and energized and directly affect a company’s bottom line; it is in the best interest of employers to invest in human capital and wellbeing of employees. Health and wellness coaching demonstrates encouraging potential as a cost-effective catalyst to optimize employee wellbeing. Rooted in science-based research with the foundation in relationships, communication, and connection, health coaches partner with employees as they build self-awareness around a holistic view of health. As employees build self-awareness, they increasingly recognize the importance of managing stress and self-care, connecting to their vision and values, taking active steps towards change, and addressing barriers and obstacles. With these strategies, individuals build resilience as they gain energy, empowerment, and work towards positive growth. This paper outlines the challenges that leaders and employees are facing, describes the intervention of health and wellness coaching, and provides a group coaching case study that demonstrates how health and wellness coaching can foster employee wellbeing. This case study provides evidence that health coaching shows promise as an intervention to optimize employee health and wellbeing. Keywords: employee health and wellbeing, wellness, stress management, health and wellness coaching, group coaching, leader wellbeing, self-awareness, case repor

Exploring young people’s experiences and perceptions of mental health and well-being using photography

© 2019 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Introduction: The mental health of young people is a major global public health concern. A shift in focus towards children and young people’s mental health in the UK has emphasized young people’s voices, as of paramount importance in shaping the path for future quality care provision. The paper examines a study that aimed to explore young people’s perceptions of mental health and well-being using photographs. Method: The methodology employed for this study placed young people at the centre of the research process by using photographs to capture their experiences. Ten young people who attended a youth group used disposable cameras to take photographs of their experiences and perceptions of mental health and well-being. Semi-structured interviews with the young people elicited their narratives behind the images. Data were analysed using photo-elicitation and thematic analysis. Findings: Young people’s experiences of mental health and well-being were internalized and located predominantly in the private and hidden regions of their everyday lives. Stigma, social isolation and marginalization were prevalent whilst spirituality and connection with the environment expressed hope. Conclusion: Mental health appears to be firmly located in the private ‘back regions’ of young individuals’ lives, demonstrating that young people conceptualize these experiences as a vulnerable and hidden part of their being. Understanding the needs of this new generation of youth including the prevalence of stigma, risk of isolation and social exclusion are paramount. Future service provision needs to recognize the extent stigma impacts upon young people’s experiences of mental health and well-being

Spirituality as a determinant of health – a health promotion perspective

Spirituality a recognised dimension of health in the field of health promotion and public health (Scriven, 2010). Good health and wellbeing includes spiritual health and wellbeing. The determinants of health and what should be done to address them to improve health is an important agenda globally. Interestingly however, although spirituality is important to health and wellbeing it does not appear in key models of determinants of health, such as the classic layer diagram of Dahlgren and Whitehead (1993). Nor does spirituality get included in influential frames for discourse. For example, the narrative/metaphor of the river and upstream versus downstream action on health which is central to so much of the language of intervention to improve health (Talley, 2010). The absence of spirituality in the discourses of health determinants and health improvement thus seems a significant omission. The work presented here therefore represents the beginning of a journey of exploration by the author to reflect on and address this conundrum. The early steps of thinking are described, including examination of models of health and wellbeing, and ways in which spirituality could be made integral to, if not central to, considering the origins of health, wellbeing and illness

Subjective Wellbeing, Health and Ageing

Life satisfaction dips around middle age and rises in older age in high-income, English-speaking countries, but that is not a universal pattern, according to a new report. In contrast, residents of other regions -- such as the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa -- grow increasingly less satisfied as they age. The study -- conducted by researchers from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Stony Brook University and University College London -- highlights how residents of different regions across the world experience varying life-satisfaction levels and emotions as they age

Use of the terms "Wellbeing" and "Quality of Life" in health sciences: A conceptual framework

Background and Objectives: The assessment of wellbeing is a top priority in health sciences. The aim of this paper is to review the history of the concept of wellbeing and “Quality of Life” (QoL), and to understand the theories and assumptions that guided this field in order to provide a conceptual framework that may eventually facilitate the development of a formal synset (grouping of synonyms and semantically similar terms) of health-related wellbeing Methods: The history of the concept of wellbeing and QoL was reviewed in order to provide a conceptual framework. Results: Huge differences exist on the definition of “Wellbeing” and its relationship with QoL, “Happiness” and “Functioning” in the health context. From a dimensional perspective, health related wellbeing could be regarded as an overarching construct characterised by asymmetrical polarity, where “wellbeing” embeds the concept of “ill-being” as “health” incorporates de concept of “disease”. Conclusions: A common conceptual framework of these terms may eventually facilitate the development of a formal synset of health-related wellbeing. This terminological clarification should be part of a new taxonomy of health-related wellbeing based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework that may facilitate knowledge transfer across different sectors and semantic interoperability for care management and planningThe research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement numbers 223071 (COURAGE in Europe) and 282586 (ROAMER), from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FIS research grant number PS09/00295, and from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation ACI-Promociona (ACI2009-1010 and ACI- 2011-1080). The study was supported by the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos II

Measuring wellbeing in Scotland : the Oxfam Humankind Index

This paper describes recent work by the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) which constructs an index of wellbeing in Scotland. The issue of wellbeing has been extensively discussed in the economics literature on happiness, and wellbeing indices have been assembled for other counries. However, this is the first attempt to measure wellbeing in Scotland. The overall aim of the research is to identify in detail what people in Scotland believe affects their wellbeing and to construct an overall measure. The Scottish results are clearly interesting in that they identify the priorities that people in Scotland have in terms of wellbeing or happiness. A key finding is the relatively limited role that economic variables appear to contribute to wellbeing, Having secure work and suitable work and having enough money to pay the bills both ranked as joint fifth in the list of elements affecting wellbeing, reinforcing arguments made in the 2009 Sarkozy report, the broad thrust of which was that govermnent policy should focus less on creating economic growth and more on those areas which people identify as increasing wellbeing. A wellbeing index itself is clearly also a useful policy tool – for example, it allows us to assess how the government is performing in succesfully addressing issues which people in Scotland have identified as increasing wellbeing. A good example of this is when we compare health and safety. The index shows that while both being in good health and feeling safe in the local community contribute significantly to wellbeing, the performance on health far exceeds the performance on safety