What do the words wellbeing and quality of life mean to you?

When you look back at your life, how will you know you had a good quality of life?

Most people assume it starts with a good job, and that will lead to a good quality of life.

But what is a good job? Would you prefer job security and good pay, or flexible hours and a positive work environment?

More importantly, what do you want or need outside of work? If we want to reverse our current mental health crisis, we don’t just need better jobs or better medicines.

We need people living lives that are purposeful and meaningful. Lives that are resilient to mental health problems.

We know research indicates that there are factors that lead to improved health, happiness and quality of life.

What is Quality of Life?

Our Quality of Life Assessment helps people look at the relationship between their wellbeing and it’s impact on mental health.

Why?

As we spend less time connecting face-to-face, eat more highly processed foods, get less daily exercise, spend more money, and less time connecting with and contributing to our communities, our mental health suffers.

We are working harder, continuously connected, and in less secure more precarious work.

There is a better way to live. We need to spend more time helping our neighbours, tending our gardens, helping the needy, caring for the environment, smiling at strangers. We need to practice self-care.

That means getting off the couch, being more active, cooking our own meals, choosing jobs and demanding workplaces that that put individuals first. It also means expecting our employers and organizations to have a social conscience.

We need to choose work we find engaging and fulfilling. Work that contributes to causes we care about.  Work that is important and meaningful to us, and that uses our gifts and talents and fuels our hearts and minds.

Most importantly, we need to get out, see the beauty in the world, and have more fun!

 

It’s time to study and practice living well. We need to know what factors lead to positive mental health.

We need communities, an economy and a workforce focused on the mental health and quality of life of each and every individual.

Every child today, should be able to look back 80 years from now and know that they were given every opportunity to live long healthy lives.

How to live well is not a secret.

The first step is taking responsibility for our own wellbeing. Then sharing it with others.

What does wellbeing mean to you?