Strategies for achieving a lasting improvement in well-being

Abstract

The study looks at strategies normal people have used to improve their wellbeing over the long-term and contrasts these with strategies used by caring professionals and with practices found in people who exhibit well-being. Aims: It aims to see what strategies normal people have found to be effective and what ineffective in improving well-being over the longterm. Methods: Participants were adults from various countries attending education, psychology or management conferences, courses or workshops. Each was asked to share strategies they had found to be effective and ineffective in improving their well-being over the long-term. Results: The favoured approaches feature contemplation and relaxation, physical involvement and social support more prominently than insight. Exhortation, reading and talking about problems often featured as methods that were perceived as counterproductive or ineffective. Conclusions: Participants used a wider range of approaches than that commonly advocated by helping professionals. The favoured strategies parallel approaches practised by people who have been found to experience relatively high levels of well-being.