It turns out you can do quite a lot in ten years.
An amazing round up of the more than 90 collaborations and the changes that are happening as a result.
Thank you
In our final blog the Centre’s Executive Director, Nancy Hey (
@Work_Life_You
) reflects on the achievements & challenges of the last decade, & looks ahead at the work still to be done:
@DJGould94
This is actually a massive problem, especially for high performers. I did a research project on it in organisations for MSc = feedback for things done well is non existent or too general to be useful. It goes against what helps learning & performance where feedback is v effective
@jamestplunkett
Commuting has always been one of the most discussed well-being findings. Essentially we don’t adapt to it, it annoys us everyday, it eats time that can be used for leisure and health. Better if active commute and/or major life choice.
We talk a lot about
#loneliness
, and yes I miss my friends family and colleagues right now, but after being in the house all day with children I also really appreciated
#solitude
.
The UK has a loneliness minister, a suicide prevention minister and an obesity strategy. Guessing it’s quite cultural. What it was flipped? Why if we focused on what we want rather than what we don’t?
The UK Treasury has published guidance on including wellbeing in policy making & spending in a systematic & evidence based way. Of interest to analysts & evaluators but it’s been great to bring
@PolicyProfUK
perspective as well as the work of
@WhatWorksWB
@sarahditum
@unherd
the age of 11 as “the age I sensed a shift from boy to girl without my consent”. This is, I think, a common sensation for girls: puberty ends an era of uncomplicated, happy embodiment” - no surprise we see average girls wellbeing dropping from age 13
A reminder that it’s totally normal to have good days & bad days and for emotions to be up & down. Right now feelings of anxiety, sadness, frustration, pessimism are a normal response. As are contentment or joy. No need to feel guilty. They are information & will pass.
We're delighted to announce our first ever
#ShapingUs
Symposium! The event, hosted by The Princess of Wales, will bring together cross-disciplinary leaders, child and adult specialists, and global thinkers for the first time. Find out more:
With huge thanks to the brilliant Board and teams
@WhatWorksWB
and
@EndLonelinessUK
we have some news
The What Works Centre for Wellbeing will close at the end of April 2024.
See more ▶️
We’re sad to announce
@whatworkswb
will close 30 April 2024, after almost a decade as the UK’s leading centre for wellbeing evidence, policy & practice. Thank you to our collaborators & supporters for making 9 years of progress possible.
Full statement:
A massive thank you to the now 16 THOUSAND of you a month who’ve used
@WhatWorksWB
site and who helped us reach 1.2 MILLION views of evidence, policy and practice in 3 years. Amazing collaborative action to improve wellbeing in the UK and beyond.
Very much looking forward to joining The Royal Foundation launch of this report today. An event I would much rather was in person :) Help young parents, pleads Duchess of Cambridge
I often hear ‘we do a bit on well-being’ or ‘we used to focus on it but it’s not a priority this year’ especially from public policy folk in public sector & civil society. This is spectacularly wrong. *Everything* you do is aiming to improve lives aka wellbeing. See here 1/3 ➡️
Really excited to announce the Campaign to End Loneliness has moved to the What Works Centre for Wellbeing as we work together to improve evidence and action to tackle loneliness across the whole of life. Two cracking jobs too 1) community manager 2) comms manager please share ➡️
The pandemic has highlighted how social
#relationships
are essential for our
#wellbeing
.
We are collaborating with
@EndLonelinessUK
to:
👶→👵 Focus on
#loneliness
across the lifecourse
🤝 Strengthen evidence of what works to improve social connection
According to my daughter having *data* about being *bored* is the most *boring* thing you can do 🤣 we are really bored, frustrated & apathetic. As stressed a normal but a lot less happy. Lockdown 3 also means a *bit* more lonely and bit less scared.
We’ve released the Measuring What Matters Framework and Dashboard! This is the first iteration of Australia's national wellbeing framework. It explores what matters most to Australians. Read the Framework and explore the Dashboard @
My first go at a little video commentary on the latest subjective well-being data for the uk. It’s rough & ready as I’m trying it out as it’s been super popular in the sessions I’ve done - feedback v welcome on video technique and questions about the data
#wellbeing
#data
Not a new finding - feeling close to others helps feel happier - but the discussion is new. How does a country, including its politics, government & civic society, need to change to better prioritise relationships, friendships and family?
Just did a presentation on wellbeing and work to 400+ people - amazing that’s possible & nerve wracking!Most pleased that someone said it was the best session they’ve attended on wellbeing. That goes with last weeks I thought well-being was fluffy but it really isn’t. Thank you
Fascinated by how the wellbeing bit of
#LevellingUp
is repeatedly dropped from commentary and reporting. It’s the overarching outcome for which everything else is the road map.
Clair died today. We are thankful for her life, which she lived well, and for all the happiness we have enjoyed together.
Thank you for being part of Clair’s Dying Well Journey. This final blog post is her Goodbye.
Love to see research use in action - 20,000 young women feeling more connected.
Moving to London is a transition associated with higher loneliness in our
@WhatWorksWB
@EndLonelinessUK
@neighbourlylab
for
@LDN_gov
research below
The drop in happiness (positive affect) that you feel going back to work after the Christmas holidays is real & shared ie very normal. It’s the biggest happiness drop in the year although not the lowest level. Only beaten by March 2020 as biggest drop.
@_alice_evans
I’ve done it by train. Was very good. Did the higher route though NY, Chicago, rockies, salt lake, san Fran, Portland, Seattle. It’s slow. Pretty.
I had made a bit too hopeful a plan to see
@MattChorley
s show with
@DyingWell_UK
so Clair’s husband joined me and we got to say thank you for sharing Clair’s story and Dying Well work so well while political stories broke all around.
I find
#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
uncomfortable because I see a lot of awareness & want to get on to the action. And there is a lot of action now too. I am keen on awareness of the action - in workplaces, education, massive research investment, treatment, communities & families
I’ve been working w
@DCMS
tackling loneliness team & a brilliant group of loneliness researchers to update what we know collectively since
@WhatWorksWB
2018 review, where we are on the gaps & what we need to know next to inform action 1/2
Really fascinating from
@YouGov
we are no longer scared but now bored, frustrated and increasingly apathetic. Happiness still not bounced back even though. Are we missing fun and even human touch and hugs?
Not being able to make plans sounds like a small thing but it’s not. 1) lots of mood boosting happiness comes from the anticipation AND 2) we lose feelings of efficacy, achievement, optimism, hope, agency & control essential for freedom & thriving = apathy and frustration
Good physical and mental health are central to our happiness and well-being. Yet so much of what keeps us healthy happens outside of hospital and the health service ➡️ New Office for Health Promotion to drive improvement of nation’s health
Great to be at the Houses of Parliament for the
@Spiritof2012
#PowerOfEvents
Inquiry launch. I’m very proud to see
@WhatWorksWB
evidence inside the report and that the learning continues. Very practical recommendations from a decade of action ➡️
Society & Social capital: What Works Evidence review and synthesis
1) interventions to improve community cohesion, social support networks and neighbourhood belonging
Some News
We
@WhatWorksWB
are going to be doing some wellbeing trials directly with a wellbeing top-up, rather than only helping others do them.
With thanks to the Evaluation Accelerator Fund from Cabinet Office/Treasury Evaluation Task Force working across
@WhatWorksUK
New: wellbeing evaluation top-up fund announced 🎉
Funded by the Evaluation Accelerator Fund, we're leading the expansion of 15 trials to include validated measures of subjective
#wellbeing
, in collaboration with other
@WhatWorksUK
centres.
Read more:
We have feelings, they are not us. They are information. You don’t have to hold on to them. You can put them down, see them from a distance, work out what they’re telling you - to try and help you - and decide how you want to act.
There are a lot of reports about how children are doing but this is the best. And it’s not great for the future. We could easily assess children’s wellbeing at scale in schools and find out what actually helps & harms rather than fighting in the dark.
#goodchildhoodreport
Today we publish
#GoodChildhoodReport
showing UK children have the lowest levels of life satisfaction in Europe. Please read the report and join
@childrensociety
in asking your MP to demand government prioritise children’s well-being
#WeWontBeSidelined
@sahmriWRC
I am a big fan of the evidence based PERMA PLUS model of wellbeing used in South Australia: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement, physical activity, nutrition, sleep & optimism
@sahmriWRC
#WorldGovSummit
How are we doing UK? We’re a lot happier & less sad than we were in March but not back to ‘normal’ and are still much more bored, frustrated & less content. Apathy still higher but optimism recovering. Loneliness & frustration dropping but still high.
Weirdly we often see an increase in wellbeing from increased social connection, including just chatting to neighbours or teacher, but not necessarily a decrease in loneliness.
The best cure for loneliness is not more frequent interaction. It's more meaningful interaction.
Many people enjoy solitude. They can spend up to ~75% of their time alone without feeling isolated.
What matters most for well-being is the quality of connections, not the quantity.
🇬🇧 the UK has measured hope for the future for the first time -
What ages are
-Hope for the Future highest?
-satisfaction with relationships lowest?
- feeling most unfairly treated?
- most satisfied with how they use their time?
- least satisfied with their local area?
🚨Analysis of latest
@ONS
#wellbeing
data🚨
How are we doing in the UK?
We explore what the quarterly & annual data tells us, look at further breakdowns by age & sex, & examine newly added measures including
#hope
&
#fairness
.
Read the blog:
I don’t think you’ve done your research properly
@IPPR
You call for a new What Works institution to support place space relationships, community, opportunity and ref Foundations and WW Scotland but not
@WhatWorksWB
the organisation actually doing this for the last nine years
⏰ | NEW REPORT: A stark divide in health & wealth throughout the UK is leaving many ‘bad health blackspots’ sicker and poorer than their neighbours. Our latest paper looks at the causes behind this divide, & proposes ambitious solutions.
Read here ⤵️
I wish we were tracking the well-being of children, young people and their families right now. We’ve got a large number of pupils learning from home with more time with family and a good number of pupils in school. We could compare impacts and benefits of each so well!
There are a lot of rollercoaster 🎢 emotions right now and lots of changes to adapt to - remember your brain and body will be working overtime to process them = rest, stop and actually feel the emotions, be gentle with yourself & each other
#covid19UK
I agree with this and the same is largely true on mental health too. What has changed is we’ve realised how much they matter to our lives and societies AND that we can and should do something about both.
In the past years thousands of newspaper headlines claimed that we are living through a ‘loneliness epidemic’.
We looked for the data on that.
Loneliness deserves attention, but these headlines are not true, and are actually unhelpful.
Our post:
@ladyhaja
My 16 year old self wouldn’t have! Still can’t quite believe the sports desk made me do a twirl across the news desk as my ‘interview’ when at the local paper for work experience as my request to do some football reporting was turned down.
Two great Head of Wellbeing roles in big organisations. One of the
@WhatWorksWB
goals has been that would be great roles like this in practice and in research that people could have an impactful career in and lead wellbeing in the UK. See early roles➡️ It’s happening 1/2
Back at the Olympic Park marking 10 years from the London 2012 Games looking at maximising the impact of major events & their legacy with
@Spiritof2012
to connect, be active, be creative, help, smile, to work hard for people & placemaking
#InvestingInHappiness
#SpiritMakingWaves
I am astonished by how much staff ‘wellbeing’ utter fluff & nonsense is being done with almost wilful ignorance. It’s got worse
Question hard about what’s been recommended / sold & how they know.
There are very excellent people and interventions available & if in doubt TEST.
This will get more views than likes or RTs I reckon…
Civil Service Staff wellbeing by department for sept-dec 2022 - shows % of staff in each org rating high on each of the personal wellbeing measures.
We analysed new data from
@UKcivilservice
to see whether public sector
#wellbeing
is still in recovery following the pandemic
Findings show how wellbeing & work interact, & could help us formulate workplace interventions in all sectors
More in blog 🧵1/4
Partner relationship is second biggest factor in life satisfaction and it’s not something where there’s any societal leadership really. Fascinating run through of the data here
So for personal reasons, marriage has been on my mind. Have been reading
@ONS
data on the subject.
I hadn’t quite realised just how big and rapid the changes have been over the past 50yrs. Says something about or misunderstanding of the past and about being young(ish) today🧵
Good to hear discussion on
#Today
@BBCRadio4
of how you can feel alone, the only one dealing with a cancer diagnosis, and the value of the King sharing his.
This type of
#loneliness
is called Existential Loneliness where your experience separates you from others.
We have updated the Commission for Wellbeing & Policy 5 years on with new evidence and the amazing breadth of activity in the UK across governments, business and civil society. Thank you to all our teams and partners past and present.
That’s worth quite a lot in wellbeing, leisure time & health. An additional 20 minutes of commuting each day was found (on average) to have the equivalent effect on job satisfaction as a 19% reduction in income – this is a loss of £4,080 per annum for someone earning £21,600
The average Londoner spends 80 mins a day commuting, more than in Europe or New York. If they worked from home, they would save 297 hours a year, according to the TUC. If they sleep for eight hours a day, that’s three and a half working weeks.
Blown away 🤯 by the amazing progress
@GMBeeWell
are making on young peoples
#wellbeing
across Greater Manchester. Neighbourhood life satisfaction for young men is this view being used by so many orgs and communities to make lives better. so much more available
Today
@WhatWorksWB
share our update on the Commission on Wellbeing & Policy 5 years on with new evidence and the amazing breadth of activity in the uk across governments, business and civil society to understand and improve wellbeing - see many of you this evening 🥂
This has been a long time in the making and involved a lot of getting in the shoes of others - NEW online guide to measuring your wellbeing impact. It’ll even build you a set of questions to use.
Trying to work on the positives here - could we create more oxytocin inspiring hygge with our smaller social groups over the autumn and winter. Small gatherings, cosines and appreciating walks in bracing weather
This is far too close to home today and this last year - reducing death and bereavement by suicide is one the main reasons I do what I do. Better data is part of the solution. Each data point here is a devastating loss.
We've published an article on the Sociodemographic inequalities in suicides in England and Wales: 2011 to 2021
We estimate rates of suicide across different groups and examine which factors are independently associated with the risk of suicide.
➡️
This is fantastic - mental health research has stood still for 30 years while we’ve seen huge advances in other areas, this changes things in an area that we’ve forgotten is important
The moment has arrived ... details of
@wellcometrust
's priority mental health programme now available on website. Starts Jan 2020. Now Looking for independent expert advisors - deadline Jan 12
Great to speak with
@FinancialTimes
- we see orgs ‘which performed best had already appointed chief medical officers before the pandemic began, and introduced strategies for physical and mental wellbeing—including plans for more flexible working.’
This is such a rubbish binary point of money v relationships. Money helps a lot. Relationships help more than we think they do. They can also make us miserable. Our mental & physical health and a job/purpose are missing from this picture and this article.
‘It is our relationships which are crucial to our wellbeing, not money. There are people who are relatively poor but they have good family and good friendship networks and they are far more fulfilled.’
One of our aims
@WhatWorksWB
is for there to be a thriving wellbeing research field in 🇬🇧 & at Oxford University earlier this month there was a global
#OxWellConf
where it was buzzing! There was a *lot* to digest. More to come but Here’s a few takeaways
Measuring wellbeing of young people in schools consistently & comparable at scale over time is the best thing we can do. It’s very do-able - it’s done in Australia, Middle East and Europe and in workplaces over many years. It helps us actually make a difference to what matters.