gabrielle kelly - south australian health & medical research institute
TRANSCRIPT
Building Wellbeing and Resilience at Scale
1 in 2 Australians
will suffer a mental illness in their life
and 1 in 5 adults
each year
Cost of mental health in Australia is
$192b/yr(12% GDP)
1 in 3 worker’s
productivity compromised due to
reduced wellbeing
Psychological Injury claims costs increased
5 x more than
non-psych claims costs
ReachOut.com and EY report ‘Crossroads: Rethinking the Australian Mental Health System’
Mental Health AustraliaThe Herald-Lateral Economics Index of Australia's Wellbeing
Return on Investment Workplace wellness versus wellbeing
organisations have traditionally invested in wellness (e.g. healthy eating and being active)
investment in effective wellbeing programs (building psychological assets) has a much higher return on investment
$1 investment in wellness returns approximately $2 to the organisations, whereas $1 investment in WELLBEING returns approximately $5 to the organisation (Rath & Harter, 2010)
Outcomes
Research indicates that employees with high wellbeing are:
more engaged, motivated, productive, healthier (more active), loyal (talent retention / less turnover), play more effective roles in teams, creative (open to innovation and ideas, and change), display more energy at work, provide better customer service, less sick (fewer days away), and recover quicker from sickness
“… people want to live meaningful lives, to cultivate what is best within themselves and to enhance their experience of love, work and play ” Professor Martin Seligman, 2011
Could the science of Resilience, Wellbeing and Positive Psychology reduce mental illness and build population mental health?
“And what else are we striving for if it’s not for the wellbeing of all of our citizens ”Wellbeing and Resilience Centre launch, April 2015
Positive mental health and wellbeing for a resilient society
Position South Australia as the State
of Wellbeing
Measure the wellbeing of all South
Australians and beyond
Generate and publish research on how to
build wellbeing efficiently, at
scale, across the life course
Teach, build and embed wellbeing
science
LEAD MEASURE BUILD EMBED
RESEARCH
Organisations, Government, Schools, Ageing, Youth, Community
Shifting the population curve up the scale of mental health
Positive EmotionEngagementRelationshipsMeaningAccomplishment
Physical ActivityNutritionSleepOptimism
Wellbeing frameworkPERMA+
Undo the effects of negative emotions- Garland, Fredrickson, Kring, Johnson & Meyer
2010
Increase Creativity
- Fredrickson 2003
Predict a longer life-span
- Xu & Roberts 2010
Help prevent and speed-up recovery from illness, including the common cold, stress and heart diseases- Cohen, Doyle, Turner, Alper & Skoner 2003, Fredrickson & Levenson 1998
Build physical, intellectual, social and
psychological resources
- Fredrickson 2003
Broaden people’s attention and their ability to think and act- Fredrickson & Branigan 2005
Promote resilience- Tugade &
Fredrickson 2004
Positive Emotions can:
Lower levels of stress
- Cohen & Wills 1985
Lower levels of obesity
-Christakis & Fowler 2007
Positive Relationships are linked to:
Greater longevity- Berkman & Syme
1994
Faster recovery from
illness- Cohen 2007
Better heart health
- Brummett et. Al 2001
Protect against cognitive decline in
older age - Seeman, Lusignolo, Albert
& Berkman
A strong sense of meaning can
Help to facilitate post-traumatic
growth- Boniwell, 2008
Increase longevity and life satisfaction- Kashdan & McKnight,
2009
Help with employee
engagement- Baumeister & Leary,
1995
Increase levels of interest at work Wrzesniewski et al.,
1997
Measured so far: 38, 000
Resilience is the ability to grow and thrive in the face of challenges and bounce back form adversity
People who are resilient (confident in their ability to withstand adversity) are also more likely to take advantage of opportunities
“The ability to take advantage of the situation is different to the ability to endure it”
Resilience and wellbeing training is known to help people be more mentally tough, emotionally strong, and physically fit by building individual capacity to withstand, recover, and grow in the face of changing demands
Resilience
Which
interventions?
Comprehensive Soldier Fitness initiative in the US Army 2008 - 2012
• systematic approach to building wellbeing and resilience
• to reduce mental illness and train individuals to be:
o physically fit
o mentally tough
o emotionally strong
Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Outcomes
10 empirically validated skills
evidence base linking to of PERMA+
o strengths (using VIA)
o fixed and growth mindsets (Dweck)
o gratitude
o learn about how to build GRIT (Duckworth)
o mindfulness
Building upon the fields of:
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Positive psychology
• Theories of organisational development and behavioural change
Precision Skills
RESULTS Auto-manufacturing industry
Department for Correctional Services
10 months into 3 year project to measure and build the wellbeing of 2000 staff
1st measure complete
16 Resilience Trainers have trained >400 staff
TAFE SA
6 months into an 18 month project to measure the wellbeing of 1000 staff
1st measure complete
Scope of Intervention
Not just Me, but We and Us
In summary Wellbeing and resilience can be measured and taught.
The brain is not fixed - anyone at any age can learn how to boost their wellbeing and resilience.
Evidence shows the link between individual wellbeing and resilience to physical and mental health outcomes, as well as organisational outcomes such as productivity and performance and population health outcomes.
The ROI for investment in wellbeing (compared to wellness) is high.
The Lead, Measure, Build, Embed approach (in a Research environment) utilising validated measures and evidence based interventions can be tailored and scaled to the varying needs of organisations and community groups for real impact.