MAKING & SHARING FOR BETTER WELLBEING Making
&
Sharing
for
Better
Wellbeing
was
funded
by
The
Bupa
UK
Foundation and delivered by WHALE Arts. Two groups, Let's Create and Men's
Makers
provided
making
and
sharing
activities
for
participants
with the aim of improving mental health and wellbeing.
We used a range of impact measures and collected both qualitative and quantitative
data.
This
brief
report
used and the results achieved.
explores
the
impact
measures
we
IMPACT MEASURES
To
measure
wellbeing
combined
three
Edinburgh
Mental
we
designed
well-known Wellbeing
impact Scale,
a
one-page measures:
The
ONS
questionnaire The
Short
Subjective
which
Warwick Wellbeing
Questions and The Social Trust Question.
Each of the impact measures has been designed to measure a different aspect of wellbeing and we felt the combination the three would give us
a
broader
picture
of
engaged with the project.
our
participants
overall
wellbeing
as
they
THE SHORT WARWICK EDINBURGH MENTAL WELLBEING SCALE The
Short
Warwick
specifically
Edinburgh
designed
to
Mental
measure
Wellbeing
both
the
Scale
feeling
aspects of wellbeing. It consists of 7 statements
SWEMWBS
and
was
functioning
to which respondents
have a choice of 5 responses.
The Statements I’ve been feeling optimistic about the future I’ve been feeling useful I’ve been feeling relaxed I’ve been dealing with problems well I’ve been thinking clearly I’ve been feeling close to other people I’ve been able to make up my mind about things
The Possible Responses None of the time Rarely Some of the time Often All of the time
Each
response
has
a
corresponding
score
with
'None
of
the
time'
scoring 1 point and 'All of the time' scoring 5. The total score over all the responses is collected for each respondent. If the survey questions are
completed
compared
and
multiple can
times
indicate
over
a
given
whether
period,
an
improving, getting worse or staying the same.
the
individuals
scores
can
be
wellbeing
is
ONS SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING QUESTIONS The ONS (Office of National Statistics) Subjective Wellbeing Questions were
designed
to
capture
what
people
think
about
their
wellbeing.
It
has 5 questions and asks respondents to rate how they feel on a scale of 0 - 10 where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely.
The Questions Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays? Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday? Overall, to what extent do you feel that the things you do in your life are worthwhile? Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?
THE SOCIAL TRUST QUESTION The
Social
which
is
Trust
known
Question to
be
a
is
key
a
single
factor
in
survey
question
wellbeing.
measuring
Research
by
trust
NEF
the
New Economics Forum suggests that social well-being be included as a headline
measure
of
well-being
given
its
importance
–
within
functioning – to overall well-being.
The Question Generally
speaking,
would
you
say
that
most
people
can
be
trusted,
or
that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people
Respondents are asked to score the question between 0 and 10 where 0 means you can’t be too careful and 10 means that most people can be trusted
OUR DATA CONSENT FORM
OUR ONE PAGE WELLBIENG QUESTIONNAIRE
OUR PLAN FOR COLLECTING THE DATA We proposed to collect baseline data from all participants at the start of the project - September 2019, to collect two sets of data during the project - January and June, and one final data set at the end of the project in September 2020.
We were able to collect four sets of Data from Let's Create - albeit not quite at the dates originally planned the
project
report,
we
have
so
far
but due to reasons outlined in
only
collected
baseline
data
from
the Men's Makers.
We
experienced
several
key
learning
points
during
data
collection
which have undoubtedly shaped our results and will inform our future work.
KEY LEARNING POINTS We decided to ask group members to complete the surveys during sessions
as
in
previous
groups
where
we
have
asked
members
to
complete surveys at home we got a very low response rate.
Completing perceived
the
as
survey
takes
encroaching
on
time
and
activity
has
time.
To
sometimes mitigate
been
this
we
dedicated 4 specific evaluation sessions during the project where we
would
gather
both
quantitative
members about this from
the
and
outset.
qualitative
data
and
told
The downside of this was if
someone did not show up on that day we were not able to collect data from them.
The SWEMBS questions all have to be completed for results to be valid - if a participant misses one question it affects their overall score making it inaccurate. Some group members missed questions making their scores inaccurate.
Of the ONS questions, 3 are phrased positively - how satisfied, how worthwhile, how happy but one questions is phrased negatively, how anxious - some participants noted this as being confusing.
With such a small sample size our results are not statistically valid, however, we felt that comparing individual’s scores throughout the project
would
give
us
an
indicator
impacting on their overall wellbeing.
as
to
whether
the
project
was
THE RESULTS
WHAT WE EXPECTED TO SEE VERSUS WHAT WE ACTUALLY SAW We
expected
(baseline)
set
to of
see
a
data
drop and
across the
all
second
measures set
of
between
data
the
1st
followed
by
fluctuating scores during the project. We anticipated and hoped that the final data sets would score higher than the first data set indicating that wellbeing had improved throughout the project.
An initial drop in wellbeing is quite a common phenomenon, particularly in therapeutic groups. Often, members' underlying feelings start to
surface feelings
and
as
can
the be
facilitator
gives
experienced
them
directly
space
and
which
attention,
can
often
these feel
uncomfortable, even painful. With support from the facilitator and the group, however, group members can start to process, understand and integrate these feelings.
While our initial expectations were heavily optimistic and we certainly did not predict a global pandemic followed by months of lockdown, our actual results are more sporadic than we anticipated and also starkly different for each individual.
The rest of the report compares data from Lets Create members. While there were 9 members in the group, only 8 completed the 1st data set, 5
completed
the
1st,
2nd
completed the final data set.
&
3rd
data
sets
and
only
3
members
WARWICK EDINBURGH MENTAL WELLBEING SCALE
incomplete data/ invalid score
incomplete data/ invalid score incomplete data/ invalid score
SHORT WARWICK EDINBURGH MENTAL WELLBEING SCALE (SWEMWBS) Each member was given a number (LC2-001/LC2-007) and their total SWEMWBS scores for each date are plotted on the graph above. As we had expected participant scores dropped between the first and second data sets with only one member's score rising for that period.
Between
the
2nd
and
3rd
data
sets
3
members
scores
rose
while
2
dropped. Those whose scores dropped between the 2nd and 3rd data sets rose again in the final data set.
Overall final scores were lower than initial scores however 3 had
invalid
completed
scores each
by
not
question
completing
their
score
higher for the corresponding data set.
all
would
7
questions have
been
-
members had
they
significantly
SOCIAL TRUST QUESTION
THE SOCIAL TRUST QUESTION SEWMWBS
Similar to the
scores, Let's Create members scores for the
Social Trust question also dropped between the first and second data sets.
Two
members'
scores
rose
dramatically
between
the
2nd
and
3rd
set
while another two fell over the same period, all be it less dramatically.
Between
the
2nd
and
3rd
data
sets
3
members
scores
rose
while
2
dropped. Interestingly the two whose scores dropped between the 2nd and 3rd data sets both rose in the final data set.
Overall, final scores were slightly higher than the baseline scores for all members who completed 3 or more data sets. This is encouraging as an overall indication of increasing positive wellbeing.
ONS PERSONAL WELLBEING QUESTION - LIFE SATISFACTION ONS SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING QUESTION SOCIAL - LIFE TRUST SATISFACTION QUESTION
incomplete data/ invalid score
incomplete data/ invalid score incomplete data/ invalid score
ONS SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING QUESTION - WORTHWHILE
ONS PERSONAL WELLBEING QUESTION - LIFE SATISFACTION ONS SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING SOCIAL QUESTION TRUST - HAPPINESS QUESTION
incomplete data/ invalid score
incomplete data/ invalid score incomplete data/ invalid score
ONS SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING QUESTION - ANXIETY
OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS SUBJECTIVE WELLBEING QUESTIONS
the
Office
questions
of
ask
National about
Statistics
levels
of
(ONS)
life
four
subjective
satisfaction,
wellbeing
self-worth,
levels
of
happiness and levels of anxiety. Results for each of the four questions are shown on the four separate graphs.
For
members
who
completed
3
or
more
data
sets
(5
members),
The
majority show increasing levels of life satisfaction and selfworth, even though their final scores were lower than the very first score. . On the happiness question, only 1 member scored higher at the end of the
project
than
they
did
at
the
beginning
but
most
individuals
happiness rose after an initial dip.
3 members scores show lower levels of anxiety at the end of the project while 2 scored higher in this category.
Between March and November 2020 the group was not meeting at all. The
November
data
set
was
collected
after
the
group
restarted
and
had completed 4 sessions. It's also worth noting that when the group started
back
they
were
spilt
into
two
smaller
groups
which
ran
for
a
shorter time and no longer shared food.
The
COVID
experiences impacted
pandemic have
the
has
been
results.
It
affected
each
dramatically is
impossible
member
different. to
know
and
This how
their
has the
individual
undoubtedly results
might
have looked if the group had continued in the format set up pre-March 2020.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN AND WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
With such a small sample size and some of the data sets inaccurate or incomplete it is difficult to draw any solid conclusions from the data we have collected.
On
its
own,
the
data
means
little,
however,
observations, reflective sessions and the
spikes
and
troughs
in
each
when
we
compare
with
discussions with group members,
graph
line
often
start
to
make
more
sense.
For example, the massive spike in anxiety levels for LC2-008 between October and March corresponded to a dramatic deterioration in that individual's
physical
health
and
a
The subsequent dramatic
drop
from
corresponded
March
to
November
in
highly that
unsuitable
same
housing
situation.
individual's anxiety levels
with
a
move
to
a
much
more
suitable house and a huge increase in their quality of life.
The significant drop in score for LC2-001 on the social trust question between
March
and
November
situation with that individual's
corresponded
to
neighbours and
a
highly
challenging
understandably a huge
increase in their anxiety levels.
While
the
data
shows
anxiety
spikes
and
dropping
levels
of
life
satisfaction, group members mostly talk about how much they value the group.
This suggests that fluctuations in scores are just as affected by factors in
individuals
lives
as
they
are
by
the
impact
of
engaging
with
the
group. This in turn highlights the importance of viewing this quantitative data
in
conjunction
experiences.
with
individual
members
stories
about
their
lived
FINAL THOUGHTS & TOP TIPS TO TAKE FORWARD This awesome project has taught us so much
particularly about impact
measures and data collection. Our top 5 tips to take forward are...
Too many questions
- feedback and reflection suggest our survey
sheet was too complicated & too long. In future, we'd do better to focus on one or two simple questions
Larger sample sizes and longer-term data gathering -
this would
generate much better more accurate results
Don't use complicated scoring systems -
The
SWEMWB
was
too
easy to invalidate & time-consuming to score, keep it simple
People don't like filling in forms
-
a
more
creative,
quicker
and
interactive way of gathering the data might work better
People do like telling their stories
-
visual
and
conversational
style reflection sessions really work & people enjoy them too