The Wheel of Well-being: Impact of a community training programme on individual well-being in Australia

Issues addressed: Well-being intervention frameworks may help improve well-being. The Wheel of Well-being (WoW) is designed to empower individuals to understand and use the WoW framework for themselves, their communities and in workplaces. This paper evaluates the well-being impacts on participants of a well-being capacity building programme using WoW, in Australia.

Methods: The programme collected quantitative data from participants at two time points, once at the beginning of the programme (Time 1) and on the final session (Time 2). Surveys assessed well-being outcomes as well as life satisfaction, knowledge and understanding of well-being and behavioural changes.

Results: Results of a total of 162 participants were included in this evaluation of the programme across nine cohorts. Between Time 1 and Time 2 the participants saw a small, but significant increase in well-being scores, with no difference between age groups. The number of participants regarded as having a "High" well-being score increased from 11% to 24%. Increases in knowledge, understanding and the implementation of actions and behaviours to improve well-being were also observed.

Conclusion: This evaluation provides evidence that participation in a short, intensive WoW programme can positively impact well-being, behaviour and knowledge and understanding regarding well-being. This suggests WoW may be an effective framework around which individuals can improve their well-being. SO WHAT?: Consideration should be given to the implementation of comprehensive health promotion frameworks, including WoW, to improve the well-being of individuals. Further evaluation is needed to see if improved well-being is maintained over longer time periods.