The World Health Organisation says, there is no single, universal definition of well-being, it means different things to people in different contexts[1]. Well-being is oftentimes seen as individual and about 'contentment' - just look at the rise of the wellness industry in the UK (as well as in Europe and America) with messages of how to keep well, eat healthy, meditate more. Yet this ignores the socioeconomic, environmental and cultural context of well-being.

Well-being refers to a range of determinants - the degree to which we have had traumatic childhoods, experienced poverty, feel secure in our homes and our communities, have good air quality and so on. A collective view of well-being recognises the intersecting factors of gender, race, age and disability too – for example, domestic violence and the gender pay gap are both gendered issues (or gendered crimes in the case of the former) that impact negatively on women’s well-being. Well-being thus extends beyond the traditional definition of ‘health’ and requires more that an individualistic response, especially if we are to tackle the root causes of inequality.

Personally, I like the definition of well-being as a measure of our social progress or “how we are doing’ as individuals, communities and as a nation and how sustainable this is for the future”[2]. Recent legislation and policy in Wales aims to do just this - measure social progress and look at how we can create a sustainable future.

The Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 is about transforming the social, cultural, environmental and economic well-being of Wales – it’s looking at all aspects of well-being in order to create sustainable change for future generations. The Act requires 44 public bodies in Wales to think about the long-term impact of their decisions, to work better with their communities and with each other, and to prevent persistent problems such as poverty, inequalities and climate change. The work is being undertaken locally by Public Service Boards (or PSBs) who have carried out ‘well-being assessments’ of their local areas and are currently devising their actions for tackling this, through their well-being plans. The Well Being of Future Generations Act 2015 is overseen by the Future Generations Commissioner who is there to support public bodies, examine trends and identify priorities for action.

And it’s not only the WBFG Act in Wales that’s looking at well-being in its broadest sense, the Social Services and Well-Being (Wales) Act also recognises the importance of collective as well as individual well-being.

All of this makes me hopeful because too often, policy change leads to short term policy goals that deliver ‘quick wins’ for a political party whilst they’re in power – more treatment for x, more funding for y. In actual fact, when it comes to well-being, it’s a complex relationship between the individual, community and our social/ cultural, economic and environmental context. Only yesterday, Samaritans Cymru launched Dying from Inequality which showed “overwhelming evidence of the a strong connection between socioeconomic deprivation and suicidal behaviour”[3]. We need to tackle structural inequalities if we are going to make any headway with ‘how we are doing’.

Emily Wooster is a policy research consultant, based in Cardiff. She specialises in mental health and well-being policy. Prior to setting up in 2017, Emily worked for 17 years in the voluntary sector, most recently as Head of Wales for the Mental Health Foundation and as their Policy Manager in London before that. For more information on how Emily can support your policy work, please see www.emilywooster.co.uk

[1] WHO description of well-being: http://www.searo.who.int/entity/mental_health/promotion-of-mental-well-being/en/

[2] What Works Wellbeing: https://www.whatworkswellbeing.org/about/what-is-wellbeing/

[3] See: https://www.samaritans.org/your-community/samaritans-ireland-scotland-and-wales/samaritans-work-wales/socioeconomic