Valuing the health benefits of city well-being

A large body of research shows that improvements in well-being have a significant causal impact on better health. However, these benefits have yet to be quantified. In order for local policymakers to make well-being policy, they need information on (a) the health benefits caused by improvements in well-being and (b) the areas and groups within a city that would most benefit from such improvements. The proposed project consists in the development of an interactive model that provides local policymakers with this information.

The well-being policies promoted by this model will result in both improved health outcomes in the long-run (and thereby savings in health spending) and better outcomes in terms of people's well-being. For example, a quantified understanding of the benefits of targetted well-being improvements can result in the local implementation of proven well-being interventions from the Big Lottery National Well-being Programme.