So, the Government has started to measure our happiness. They have come to the conclusion, reached earlier by many, that economic growth is one thing and the health and wellbeing of the citizens that voted them into power is another.
What makes politicians think they will be any better at improving citizen health and wellbeing than they have been at growing the economy? Well, there’s an emerging science of psychological wellbeing and human flourishing they find exciting and are seeking to apply. So what do we know? That mental health is a positive thing, much more than the absence of mental illness. That mental health and wellbeing depends on the presence of key things: good relationships, feelings of mastery, competence and achievement, engagement in tasks and activities, the experience of positive emotions and a dose of meaning and purpose.
Over 60 years ago two doctors in South London developed the Pioneer Health Centre in Peckham; a true health centre, not a disease centre. They wanted to ‘create the right conditions for health to emerge’. It never made it into the NHS.
About 10 years ago I shared with a major high street chemist, my ideas for a modern wellbeing and wellness centre. They didn’t quite get it, and chose to sell vitamins and the like.
So, what will the wellbeing centre of the future look and feel like? How will it differ from the modern health and fitness centre? Come to the Flame Conference and find out.
FIA Flame Conference – “Creating Connections – The Key to our future”
Wednesday July 13th at the Telford International Centre.
Click here to book your place now!
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