Factor/Node
Physical Health
Mental Health
Wellbeing
Genetics & demographics
Age, race & gender
Health and Wellbeing
DefinitionUseful Links
Physical health describes the condition of your body. This includes whether you have an illness, injury or a health condition. There are lots of different types of physical health conditions. Some are acute which means they happen suddenly, like breaking a bone. Others are chronic which means they are long-lasting, like asthma.
Mental health is an integral part of our general health and wellbeing and a basic human right. Having good mental health means we are better able to connect, function, cope and thrive. Mental health exists on a complex continuum, with experiences ranging from an opitmal state of wellbeing to debilitating states of great suffering and emotional pain
National wellbeing is ‘how we’re doing’ as individuals, communities and as a nation, and how sustainable that is for the future. At an individual level, it concerns whether we are feeling good and functioning well. Community wellbeing is ‘being well together’, and in economics it is sometimes referred to as social welfare or social value.
Genetics is the study of genes, heredity and the variation of inherited characteristics, for example how certain qualities or traits are passed from parents to children. Demographics are data or information about human populations for example age, ethnicity and income.
Age: a person belonging to a particular age (for example 32 year olds) or range of ages (for example 18 to 30 year olds). Race: a race is a group of people defined by their colour, nationality (including citizenship) ethnicity or national origins. A racial group can be made up of more than one distinct racial group, such as Black British. Gender: many people identify as male or female and see their sex and gender as the same thing. But for others their gender identity is different from the sex registered on their birth certificate (male or female).
NeurodiversityNeurodiversity refers to the different ways a person's brain processes information. A group of people is made up of both neurodivergent and neurotypicl individuals.
Disability, genetic disposition
Knowledge, education & motivation
Health & Wellbeing literacy
Early years education
School education
https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240049338
www.whatworkswellbeing.org
https://www.genome.gov/about-genomics/fact-sheets
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/equality/equality-act2010/protected-characteristics
https://www.thebraincharity.org.uk/neurodivergent-neurodiversityneurotypical-explained/
The Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 define a person with a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person's ability to carry out normal daily activities. Genetic disposition is an increased likelihood of developing a particular disease based on a person's genatic make up.
Knowledge is facts, information and skills acquired through experience and/or education. Education is the process of receiving or receiving knowledge. Motivation includes both personal motivation, for example the desire to change behaviour for yourself, and social motivation, the desire to change behaviour to fit into a social environment.
Health & wellbeing literacy is about a person's ability to understand and use information to make decisions about their health.
A user with low health & wellbeing literacy will generally struggle to:
read and understand information know how to act on this information know which services and support to use, and when to use them
The learning, development and care for children from birth to age five
Primary and secondary education from age 5 to age 16 (digital) access and inclusion
The extent to which people have access to technology and the digital skills they need to thrive in today's world, for example connecting to the internet through a computer of mobile device.
https://service-manual.nhs.uk/content/health-literacy
https://www.goodthingsfoundation.org/the-digital-divide/
Self-efficacySelf-efficacy, self-esteem, confidence to change and problem solving skills are all factors in the adoption of positive health behaviours and self care. Self efficacy is a person's belief in their ability to complete a task or achieve a goal.
Personality
Autonomy
NEW Control
Life skills
Support for independent living
The way that a person thinks, feels, and behaves
Autonomy means being in control of your own decisions without outside influence. It means being able to make decisions that are intrinsically motivated (eg doing something because you enjoy it or find it satisfying) rather than extrinsically motivated (eg motivated by social pressure or reward).
Control is a person's ability or perception of their ability to affect themselves, others, their conditions, their environment or some other circumstance. Control over oneself or others can extend to the regulation of emotions, thoughts, actions,
The ability to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life for example. life skills are skills that prepare an individual to live independently and productively within a society.
People have different concepts of what independent living means to them. Broadly, it means people should be able to choose to live independent lives with dignity. It is about empowering people to have choice and control in directing their own life, and being able to make informed decisions about practical support required to got about daily life. It is living independently without the dependency created by institutions.
https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/
Past experience
Relationships
Past experiences are the things that have made up our life up until this point. They are positive and negative events. They are both one-offs and the things we do day in day out that become ingrained us.
The relationship between two people or groups is the way in which they feel and behave towards each other. At an individual level, feeling close to others is a core component of personal subjective wellbeing and mental wellbeing. Factors such as a sense of belonging to a neighbourhood can help protect from the effects of loneliness. At a community level, factors for ‘being well together’ are where we live (place), our relationships (people) and governance (power). Our relationships are about the strength of networks and support between people in a community.
Friends & FamilyA family is a married, civil partnered or cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent with at least one child, who lives at the same address. Friends are people you know well, and like who are not normally members of your family.
Behavioural norms
Social support
Norms are rules, whether explicit or implicit, that define our expectations of appropriate behaviours. Behavioural norms are expectations of how someone will behave in a given situation based on established protocols, rules of conduct or accepted social practices.
Mutual support takes place when you give and receive support, using skills or resources with someone one you have a common interest. Mutual support groups are small groups formed on a voluntary basis by people who share a common interest, and help each other improve their wellbeing.
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/lifeschallenges/maintaining-healthy-relationships-and-mentalwellbeing/
Companion animals
Social Loneliness
Emotional loneliness
Community
Cultural background
Social capital
Social isolation
Inclusivity & sense of belonging
Pets including dogs, cats, and a variety of small mammals, which are kept by humans. They can provide a range of therapeutic, psychological and physical benefits to humans of all ages. Companion-animal relinquishment, for example moving to a accommodation where pets are not allowed, can have a significant negative impact on wellbeing.
Social loneliness is the lack of a wider social network of friends, neighbours or colleagues. It is a type of loneliness. Loneliness is a subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship, which happens when there is a mismatch between the quantity and quality of the social relationships that we have, and those that we want
Emotional loneliness is the absence of a significant other with whom a close attachment or meaningful relationship existed (a partner or close friend). It is a type of loneliness. Loneliness is a subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship, which happens when there is a mismatch between the quantity and quality of the social relationships that we have, and those that we want
A specific group of people, often living in a defined geographical area, who share a common culture, values and norms, are arranged in a social structure according to relationships which the community has developed over a period of time. Members of a community gain their personal and social identity by sharing common beliefs, values and norms which have been developed by the community in the past and may be modified in the future. They exhibit some awareness of their identity as a group, and share common needs and a commitment to meeting them.
Culture is both the lens through which individuals understand the world and a “blueprint” of the individual behavior, influencing how someone will act. Cultural background includes an individual's behaviors, languages, beliefs, values, and the social institutions and technologies they interact with.
https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/
Community groups & events
Empowerment
Social capital is the ‘glue’ that holds societies together. It is the extent and nature of our connections with others and the collective attitudes and behaviours between people that support a well-functioning, close-knit society. Higher levels of social capital are beneficial, and can be associated with better outcomes in health, education, employment and civic engagement.
Social isolation describes the level and frequency of a person's social interactions. It is used to describe people living with few social relationships and/or infrequent social contact with others. Social isolation can be linked to loneliness but it is not the same thing. Loneliness is an emotional experience, isolation is a lack of social contact. Loneliness is a subjective feeling, whereas isolation is an objective state.
Belonging is the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion and identify for a member of a group or a resident of an area. A lack of belonging has been shown to be associated with loneliness, emotional distress and mental ill health.
A community group is a group of people who work for the benefit of the public. A community group is an organised collective of people with similar interests or aims. Community events bring local people together with the aim of improving people's lives through entertainment and social connection.
A process through which people gain greater control over decisions and actions affecting their health and wellbeing. It is an individual and a community process.
https://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/
https://whatworkswellbeing.org/resources/what-is-socialcapital/#:~:text=Social%20capital%20is%20the%20'glue,%2C%20 close%2Dknit%20society.%E2%80%9D
Co-location of services
Services that are located in the same physical space, for example a building or community venue, though not necessarily integrated with one another. Co-location can lead to more collaboration between service providers and make it easier for individuals to access a wide range of services
Trust in authority Trust is the foundation upon which the legitimacy of democratic institutions rest. Trust is crucial for ensuring the success of a wide range of public policies that depend on behavioural responses from the public. For example, public trust leads to
Quality of schooling and wrap around care
Quality of education takes account of the curriculum, the standards of teaching and the experiences of pupils in the school. Wrap around care is used to describe childcare that 'wraps around' the conventional school day for example breakfast and after-school clubs.
https://www.oecd.org/governance/trust-in-government/
Paid & Unpaid work
Paid work means work for financial gain or reward, whether as an employee receiving a salary, or a self-employed person. Unpaid work is work which individual or households perform for themselves but which they could pay someone else to do for them. Examples of unpaid work include: volunteering, caring for someone, transportation of self or others, housework, DIY and gardening.
EmploymentEmployment is paid work. An employee is someone who works under an employment contract.
Financial wellbeing Security and adequacy of income
Income security is about having an adequate income, enough to live on so that people can feel that they are able to meet current needs, and have some capacity to cover infrequent or unanticipated costs, and to save for future needs.
https://maps.org.uk/what-is-financial-wellbeing/
Workplace stress
Working conditions and good work
There is a difference between stress and pressure. We all experience pressure on a daily basis, and need it to motivate us and enable us to perform at our best. It’s when we experience too much pressure without the opportunity to recover that we start to experience stress. The HSE definition of stress is ‘the adverse reaction a person has to excessive pressure or other types of demand placed upon them’
Being out of work damages wellbeing for everyone, regardless of age, gender, location, ethnicity, and level of education. But beyond employment, the quality of our jobs matters for our wellbeing. Job quality and 'good work' is not about any specific type of job, but the conditions that help us thrive in the workplace. This includes terms of employment, pay & benefits, health, safety and psychological wellbeing, job design and nature of work, social support and cohesion, voice & representation, and work-life balance.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg424.pdf
https://whatworkswellbeing.org/resources/job-quality-andwellbeing/ and https://carnegieuktrust.org.uk/publications/measuring-good-workthe-final-report-of-the-measuring-job-quality-working-group/
Commuting distances
The distance a worker travels to work each day, often the distance between an individual's home and their place of work. Longer commute times are associated with lower job and life satisfaction. Commuters who use public transport or active travel, for example cycling or walking often have higher wellbeing.
Worthwhile activityIf something is worthwhile, it is enjoyable or useful, and worth the time, money, or effort that is spent on it. This matters because wellbeing goes beyond the pleasant emotions and absence of ill-health; we want to perceive our lives as having
Caring & volunteering A carer is anyone, including children and adults who looks after a family member, partner or friend who needs help because of their illness, frailty, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction and cannot cope without their support. A volunteer is someone who spends time, unpaid, doing something that aims to benefit the environment or someone who they're not closely
Fairness & respect
Living conditions
Fairness is when individuals are free from unfair bias and systemic discrimination. Fairness is being reasonable and just, and and treating people equally. Respect is having due regard for feelings, wishes and rights of others.
Living conditions are the circumstances or factors affecting the way in which people live, particularly with regard to their health and wellbeing. This includes food, shelter, heating, safety, security and social interaction.
HousingShelter, accomodation and the places where people live, for example houses and flats
Maintenance Maintainance relates to the process of keeping a house in good condition, and repairing it when required.
https://www.ncvo.org.uk/help-and-guidance/involvingvolunteers/understanding-volunteering/what-isvolunteering/#:~:text=Volunteering%20is%20when%20someone% 20spends,organisations%2C%20or%20informal%20within%20com munities.
Availability, affordability, homelessness
Quality and size
Housing availability links to the supply and affordability of housing in an area. Affordable housing is housing for sale or rent for those whose needs are not met by the market. This includes housing that provides a subsidised route to home ownership and/or is for essential local workers. Homelessness is when a person has no accommodation available for them to occupy in the UK or abroad, for example, someone sleeping rough or who cannot return home safely.
Housing quality refers to the physical conditions of a person's home as well as the quality of the social and physical environment in which the home is located. Size includes the area the house covers, but also important aspects including numbers of bedrooms and outdoor space.
Access to green & blue spaceThe opportunity for people to reach natural areas like parks and woodland, or blue space such as rivers, lakes and sea.
https://whatworkswellbeing.org/projects/places-spaces-and-socialconnections-review-update/
Accessibility
Transport
Quality & useability
Accessibility relates to the distance a person has to travel to visit green/blue space, and also the ease with which a person can make that journey.
The way in which people travel to access green and blue space such as by walking, cycling, public transport or car
How green and blue spaces are used and experienced by visitors such as feeling welcome; being healthy, safe and secure; being well maintained and clean with minimal environmental impact (eg local energy and chemical use); enjoyment of nature-rich and/or local heritage features; and offering opportunities for community involvement.
Neighbourhood designNeighbourhood design refers to the scale, form or function of buildings and open space. Good neighbourhood design can have an important role in promoting community cohesion by providing public spaces that are comfortable and inviting for local people.
Perceived and actual safety/crime
Traffic volumes, air quality, noise, light
Access to services and facilities
Fear of crime and levels of crime in an area
Wider environmental conditions in the neighbourhoods where we live can impact on the quality of our health and wellbeing. High levels of noise, light, and air pollution from sources such as traffic, aviation, factories, lighting infrastructure can all have negative effects on our quality of life affecting our health and wellbeing
Provision of services and facilities that promote social interaction, are safe and accessible, enable and support health lifestyles, provide social, recreational and cultural facilities, provide public service facilities (eg education, healthcare, shops)
https://whatworkswellbeing.org/resources/systematic-review-ofcommunity-infrastructure-place-and-space-to-boost-socialrelations-and-community-wellbeing-five-year-refresh/
Urban/Rural deprivation
Compactness
Deprivation is the damaging lack of resources considered to be basic necessities in a society, In England, the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), is based on seven domains of deprivation: Income (including income deprivation affecting children and older people), Employment, Education, skills and training, Health and disability, Crime, Barriers to housing and services, and Living environment. This can be experience in urban and rural neighbourhoods.
A complete, compact and connected neighbourhood, where people can meet their everyday needs within a short walk or cycle. This can provide multiple benefits such as boosting local economies, improving people’s health and wellbeing, increasing social connections in communities, and tackling climate change.
Active travel
Community spaces
Health and Wellbeing
Active travel refers to modes of travel that involve a level of activity. The term is often used interchangeably with walking and cycling, but active travel can also include trips made by wheelchair, mobility scooters, adapted cycles, e-cycles, scooters, as well as cycle sharing schemes.
This includes public places designed for people to meet, including streets, squares, parks, play areas, village halls and community centres. It also includes places where people meet informally or are used as meeting places in addition to their primary role, such as cafes, pubs, libraries, schools and churches.
Active Travel England - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
https://whatworkswellbeing.org/resources/review-refresh-placesspaces-and-social-connections/
Nature & environment
Pests & diseasesPests and diseases which threaten human, native wildlife and our wider crops, trees, gardens and countryside.
Nature connectednessNature connectedness captures the relationship between people and the rest of nature. Nature connectedness is a measurable psychological construct that moves beyond contact with nature to an individual’s sense of their relationship with the natural world.
Climate health impactsClimate change affects the social and environmental determinants of health – clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.
Climate change
Location risk (heat, cold,flood) Climate change will impact different locations in different ways. Health impacts will be most severe for those at risk of flooding, drought and extreme heat/cold and/or weak health infrastructure provision.
Waste & pollution
Water quality
Contaminated land affecting food
Biological & chemical contaminants
Healthcare
Safe and readily available water is important for public health, whether it is used for drinking, domestic use, food production or recreational purposes. When water contains the right balance of nutrients and isn't polluted with harmful substances, people, plants, animals, and ecosystems can thrive and be sustained.
Failing to deal adequately with contaminated land can cause harm to human health, property and the wider environment. Soil pollution can have an adverse impact on food prdocution in two ways –it can reduce crop yields due to toxic levels of contaminants, and crops grown in polluted soils are unsafe for consumption by animals and humans.
The services provided to maintain and improve health. This involves preventing, diagnosing and treating mental and physical illnesses, diseases and injuries.
Access the opportunity to identify healthcare needs, to seek healthcare services, to reach, to obtain or use health care services and to actually have the need for services fulfilled.
Location & transport
Inclusion health
Response
Waiting lists
Physical activity & recreation
Where health care facilities are located and how people travel to them.
Inclusion health is a ‘catch-all’ term used to describe people who are socially excluded, typically experience multiple overlapping risk factors for poor health (such as poverty, violence and complex trauma), experience stigma and discrimination. It's important that health and care professionals ensure that socially excluded people can access and benefit from the services they need.
When people access healthcare, how long it takes to receive the care that is needed
A list of patients waiting to receive a consultative, assessment, diagnosis, care or treatment from a health care organisation.
Physical activity refers to all movement including during leisure time, for transport to get to and from places, or as part of a person’s work. Recreation refers to all those activities that people choose to do to refresh their bodies and minds and make their leisure time more interesting and enjoyable. Examples of recreation activities are walking, swimming, reading, playing games and dancing.
Leisure refers to the free time that people can spend away from their everyday responsibilities (e.g. work and domestic tasks) to rest, relax and enjoy life. It is during leisure time that people participate in recreation and sporting activities.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-changeand-health
Climate change and health (who.int)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inclusion-healthapplying-all-our-health/inclusion-health-applying-all-our-health
ExercisePlanned episode of physical activity to improve or maintain a person's health or fitness.
Active travel
Recreation
Access to outdoor spaces
Affordability
Smoking, alcohol drugs
Education
Upbringing
Sun exposure
Active travel refers to modes of travel that involve a level of activity. The term is often used interchangeably with walking and cycling, but active travel can also include trips made by wheelchair, mobility scooters, adapted cycles, e-cycles, scooters, as well as cycle sharing schemes.
Availability of outdoor spaces from formal sports pitches to open areas within a development, linear corridors and country parks. It can provide health and recreation benefits to people living and working nearby; have an ecological value and contribute to green infrastructure.
Cost of traveling to and/or hiring spaces for recreation
Awareness and understanding on how healthy lifestyles can be achieved.
Growing up in an environment where people's social, emotional and educational needs are met
Too much sunlight is harmful to your skin. Outdoor workers that could be at risk include farm or construction workers, market gardeners, outdoor activity workers and some public service workers. Schools must also recognise sun exposure as a serious health and safety issue and fulfil their duty of care to safeguard children against the damaging effects of overexposure to strong sunlight.
https://www.hse.gov.uk/skin/employ/sunprotect.htm and
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-ofcancer/sun-uv-and-cancer and
https://www.sunsafeschools.co.uk/education/
Food environment
The physical, economic, political and social contexts in which people engage with the food system to make their decisions about acquiring, preparing and consuming food. Food environments are a combination of the ‘spaces’ in which people make decisions about food, and the foods and drinks that are made available, accessible, affordable and desirable in those spaces.
NutritionNutrition is food necessary for health and growth. Better nutrition is related to improved infant, child and maternal health, stronger immune systems, safer pregnancy and childbirth, lower risk of non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and longevity. There are multiple forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, inadequate vitamins or minerals, being overweight and obesity, The term obese describes a person who has excess body fat
Affordability of fresh and healthy food
Food deserts
Healthy eating knowledge
Social inclusion
A household can broadly be defined as experiencing food poverty or ‘household food insecurity’ if they cannot (or are uncertain about whether they can) acquire an adequate quality or sufficient quantity of food in socially acceptable ways”
A food desert is an area where people experience geographical and financial problems in accessing healthy food
The skills, confidence and knowledge for healthy eating
Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity. Social inclusion is seen as central to reducing poverty and increasing shared prosperity and wellbeing
ResponsibilitiesResponsibilities are tasks a person is required to do as part of a job, role, or legal obligation but also feelings we have to take care of something
Caring
A carer is anyone who has a commitment to providing unpaid care to a family member or friend who could not cope without their support. This may be due to illness, disability, a mental health issue, or substance misuse. A caring responsibility may be short term — such as supporting someone with their recovery following an accident, or long term — such as helping someone with a long term illness.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthy-eatingapplying-all-our-health/healthy-eating-applying-all-ourhealth#:~:text=eat%20at%20least%205%20portions,fat%20and%2 0lower%20sugar%20options
https://carers.org/about-caring/about-caring
PovertyPoverty is when your resources are well below your minimum needs. There is no single definition or measure of poverty. Relative income poverty is where households have less than 60% of the average UK household income. Material deprivation is where you can't afford certain essential items and activities. Destitution, where you can't afford basics such as shelter, heating and clothing.
Deprivation
Unemployment
Financial wellbeing
Deprivation is the damaging lack of resources considered to be basic necessities in a society, In England, the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), is based on seven domains of deprivation: Income (including income deprivation affecting children and older people), Employment, Education, skills and training, Health and disability, Crime, Barriers to housing and services,
Unemployment is when someone is without work but available for, and seeking employment.. or maybe Unemployment refers to a situation where a person actively searches for employment but is unable to find work Hmm, a bit judgy.... Unemployment
The lack of access to banking services often overlaps with poverty. Financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs – transactions, payments, savings, credit and insurance – delivered in a responsible and sustainable way. Financial access facilitates dayto-day living, and helps families and businesses plan for everything from long-term goals to unexpected emergencies.
InequalityInequalities are about differences in the status of people’s lives. Health inequalities are avoidable, unfair and systematic differences in health between different groups of people. Health Inequalities can involve differences in the care that
Disability
Immigration status
Discrimination
The Equality Act 2010 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 define a person with a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment, and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Immigration status' is the kind of permission you have to be in the UK (this is often called 'leave' or 'leave to remain'). The type of permission you have changes how long you can stay in the UK and what you can do while you are here. Permission is given by the Home Office, which is part of the UK government. Children and young people who arrived in the UK at a very young age and have lived here ever since may be undocumented. This means they might not have any legal immigration status.
Discrimination means treating someone unfairly because of who they are. The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination by employers businesses and organisations which provide goods or services like banks, shops and utility companies, health and care providers like hospitals and care homes, someone you rent or buy a property from like housing associations and estate agents, schools and colleges, transport services, public bodies like government departments and local authorities. There are nine protected characteristics in the Equality Act: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.
https://www.jrf.org.uk/our-work/what-is-poverty
https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/what-are-healthinequalities
https://www.acas.org.uk/what-disability-means-by-law