Making use of evidence from wellbeing research in policy and practice

Wellbeing is now firmly on the agendas of many governments around the world, but this is of little use unless research on wellbeing is actually used to inform policy and practice. In this concluding chapter to the volume, three issues to help foster use in policy making are considered. First, challenges in the measurement of wellbeing. Measures will need to have broad acceptance by policy makers and the public if they are to be sustained. Next, the chapter looks at how information about wellbeing, including its economic impact, can be used to inform policy. It then focuses in more detail on challenges in getting messages across to policy makers, highlighting barriers around the way in which information is packaged and presented. Another barrier is a divided policy-making landscape, where many different actors in different sectors need to be persuaded of the merits of investing in the promotion of wellbeing. Mechanisms to address these barriers are then presented.