‘What Works’ for Wellbeing?

Abstract

This chapter focuses on ‘what works’ for wellbeing, presenting the findings of original research on the use of scientific evidence on wellbeing in policy. It considers the importance of evidence relative to other forms of knowledge—political, professional and experiential. It identifies the accumulation of evidence as an important next step for wellbeing in policy, with considerable demand for scientific evidence of different types and for a range of purposes. The findings suggest the need for a broad understanding of ‘what works’ beyond the rational-technical sense often employed to describe the work of What Works Centres and in the use of evidence more generally.

This chapter draws on material from Bache, I. (2018). How Does Evidence Matter? Understanding ‘What Works’ for Wellbeing. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1941-0.