The experimental research on well-being since 2004
| Pages | 211-213 |
| Date | 21 December 2015 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-09-2015-0043 |
| Published date | 21 December 2015 |
| Author | Woody Caan |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Public mental health |
The experimental research on
well-being since 2004
Woody Caan
Dr Woody Caan is based at the
RSPH, Duxford, UK.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the claim by the Chief Medical Officer for England that
“There is virtually no robust, peer-reviewed evidence to support a ‘well-being’approach to mental health”.
Design/methodology/approach –Secondary research using research literature from two widely available
databases, Scopus and Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts. Randomised controlled trials were
sought that focused on “well-being”(including well-being or wellness), from 2004 to the present.
Findings –With both clinical samples and non-clinical populations, a variety of experimental trials were
found. Studies were identified with both positive benefits and no benefits from intervention. The most
numerous type of paper reported positive benefits for clinical patients.
Research limitations/implications –Only a single reader classified the studies in this investigation, so the
inter-rater reliability may be limited. Only two databases were searched. However, future work (such as that in
progress by the What Works Centre for Wellbeing) may find an abundance of evidence on mental well-being.
Practical implications –In many settings, well-being can improve after intervention.
Social implications –What is measured as “well-being”may need to take into account the perspective of
the specific population being studied.
Originality/value –This small-scale study was undertaken to inform policy in the new Public Mental
Health Network.
Keywords Policy, Well-being, Wellness, Wellbeing, Randomized controlled trial, Peer-reviewed evidence
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The Chief Medical Officer for England and a junior doctor published an article on Public Mental
Health in the September issue British Journal of Psychiatry (Mehta and Davies, 2015). In this
paper they assert “There is virtually no robust, peer-reviewed evidence to support a ‘well-being’
approach to mental health”. This brief, preliminary report on Secondary Research using two
widely available databases was shared with the very next meeting of the Public Mental Health
Network (Caan, 2015a) in London on 21 September.
Background to research on well-being
The UK pioneer in this field was psychologist Michael Argyle (1992), whose Oxford Happiness
Inventory was developed with non-clinical samples but also applied to the widespread clinical
problem of depression. Short-term “happiness”is only a small part of the multi-dimensional
phenomenon of human well-being, which also relates to the longer term life stories of individuals,
their connectedness with others and their capabilities such as resilience in the face of adversity.
In some settings and organisations, well-being has a group dimension: “both mental wellness
and misery can be observed at the family, neighbourhood, workplace or school levels”
(Caan, 2015b). A turning point in our understanding of the nature of well-being, its relationship to
Received 20 September 2015
Revised 20 September 2015
Accepted 15 October 2015
DOI 10.1108/JPMH-09-2015-0043 VOL. 14 NO. 4 2015, pp. 211-213, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTALHEALTH
j
PAG E 211
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