The new UK government has announced plans to monitor people's psychological and environmental well-being. However, critics question the usefulness of such indexes in the context of the impact of the economic crisis. The initiative is not unique and is a response to the views of two Nobel Prize Laureates (Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen) who highlighted the need to move away from purely economic measures. Several governments (notably France and Canada) have already responded and developed plans regularly to assess the general well-being of their citizens.

In this context, KHSC presents a seminar focusing on the reasons behind the interest in well-being, approaches to its measurement, and the strengths and weaknesses of the different indexes and their constituent components. Experts will draw on their own experience and reflect on the lessons learnt.

Speakers: Paul Allin (deputy director of Measuring National Well-being, Office for National Statistics), Prof Sarah Stewart- Brown (University of Warwick) and Dr Sam Thompson (new economics foundation) and Lucy Smith (Lambeth First).

This event will be chaired by Gregor Henderson, NMHDU National Well-being and Public Mental Health Programme lead 

Full details and booking via the King`s College website here

The National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU) is the agency charged with supporting the implementation of mental health policy in England by the Department of Health in collaboration with the NHS, Local Authorities and other major stakeholders.