Psychology Assignment: Well-Being In Society

Question

Task:
You are required to write a report on psychology assignment of 2000 words (+/- 10%) that discusses the wellbeing of ONE of the following groups or contexts:

• Children
• Young people
• People with mental health issues
• Older people
• Wellbeing in the workplace

You are permitted to use sub-headings in this assessment. Your report should follow this format:

• Explanation of TWO concepts that relate to wellbeing
• Discussion of the main issues relating to the wellbeing of your selected group/context
• Discussion of strategies/initiatives that seek to enhance the wellbeing of your selected group/context

Answer

Introduction
It is evident in the psychology assignment that well-being is an essential element in the quality of life of all individuals. The quality of life of individuals I always sought to increase and wellbeing enhances the same. There has been an increasing focus on the case of mental health, wellbeing and the impacts of this element on the overall social and economic position of a person are distinctive. The concept of wellbeing is distinctively different from context to context and it can be viewed that the oxford definition of wellbeing indicates it is a “state where people are comfortable, healthy and happy”. Regardless, the definition is broader in its reach and it is determined from this that it includes other elements such as social connections, personal relationships, work-life balance, and such other factors. In addition, it is related to the sense of personal fulfilment that the individual perceives and their motivation and way of thinking (Mentalhealth, 2015).

Well-being is thought to be something people strive towards. The element of well-being is essentially viewed to be one of the most important factors which help a person to attain contentment. The global context of wellbeing addresses different areas of a person’s life including that of poverty, the social condition an appropriation for or against a person (such as racism, sexism, etc.), to understand the overall basic necessity for a sound human life. Elements such as that of the Millenium Declaration, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Bellagio Initiative, and other such factors have worked through a wide range of avenues to bring wellbeing to the global forefront (Theguardian, 2011).

Well-being approaches in the UK are taken up in consideration of the stages of life of a person. The stages where well-being is addressed are that of early childhood, young adulthood, adulthood, mid-life and late ages. It can be understood that the UK puts a large amount of focus on wellbeing at work and defines good practice as the element of ensuring that the factors of demand, control, support, relationships, role, and change, all are met (Croneri, 2019).

This study aims to specifically understand how important well-being is for the enhancement of the quality of life of an individual. Additionally, it also seeks to understand the importance of wellbeing in providing security and keeping a person safe. It seeks to understand the impacts and solutions that can be derived for the same. For understanding the impacts of the same, the concepts of the dynamic model of wellbeing and the psychological model of well-being are going to be used for this study. This report aims to understand and analyze the issues and to delineate the wellbeing of young people.

Discussion of main issues regarding wellbeing of young people
Major issues in the case of wellbeing are the mental health impacts which are caused due to the lack of the same, in young people. The impact of well-being on mental health is very important to note. How this affects different individuals and disrupts the mental capacity and cerates risk for individuals in terms of economic or social stability is important to be gauged. It can be viewed that the most common elements include aspects of depression, self-harm, anxiety disorder, PTSD, and eating disorders. It can be viewed that there is a lack of interventions for around 70 % of the population who suffer from this aspect (Mentalhealth, 2021).

Major issues additionally are the manifestations of unaddressed mental health problems in young people which reflect on the wellbeing of a person in later years in life. Additionally, it can be viewed that events of social exclusion and such other experiences are very common in the case of unaddressed risks which may be present for young people (Mentalhealth, 2018).Thus understanding these risks is important through specific concepts relating to wellbeing which are discussed in the subsequent section.

Concepts in relation to wellbeing
Six-factor Psychological Model of Wellbeing
The six-factor model of psychological well-being which was set out by Carol Ryff indicates that six factors ensure the happiness or the contentment and happiness of a person. These elements are underpinned through the prospect of having positively associated impacts and relationships with other individuals and personal mastery and autonomy and such other factors (Ryff, 2018). This model states that well-being is a by-product of two elements, namely, the challenges in a person’s life and the rewards which are gained upon facing different events in life. Thus, the model sets out different elements which need to be understood properly.

Before delving into the model and the measurements which are conducted through gauging the different elements of this scale, it is important to note that the Ryff scale is a psychometric inventory. The scale comes in opposition of 54 to 84 items and the respondents are allied to choose between 6 options on a scale of one to six where one denotes strong disagreement and six ascertains strong agreement (Sommerfeldt et al. 2019). The higher the score in terms of the scale, the higher is the psychological well-being of an individual effectively. Thus the determination of the same is important to be gauged and comprehended in relevance to the wellbeing of young people.

Figure 1: Six-Factor Model of Psychological Well-Being
(Source: Ryff, 2018)

The first of the six elements of this scale is that of autonomy, where the high scores are indicative that a respondent can regulate their behaviour independent of their social pressures which may be there. Horwood and Anglim (2019), indicated that the second element is that of environmental mastery which determines how well a respondent makes use of environmental opportunities and can manage the environmental and personal needs. The element of personal growth indicates how to open an individual is to the case of learning and such other factors. In the case of positive relations, the factor is the primary one for gauging the element of engagement in meaningful relationships. The purpose in life element indicates the element of the goal orientation of a person and the final element of self-acceptance indicates the attitude and behaviour of a person towards themselves.

This concept provides an overview of how psychologically well a person is doing. It proves to be an important inventory in understanding the needs and issues of individual’s specifically. This would be a great overall indicator of the mental health of young people in the UK and would aid in understanding their condition and areas to be addressed better.

Dynamic Model of Wellbeing
The dynamic model of wellbeing was made in relevance to work environments where wellbeing is associated with the relationships and connections which are formed inside it. However, the values which are present can be substituted through environmental elements which are present in the surroundings of a person to attribute this model to the chosen target population. This model provides a look into the significant elements which are present, such as the social systems within which an individual functions. Akizu-Gardoki et al. (2020), states that this model looks at systems, functionality, experience and then compares the experience with the personal outlook of an individual to understand the impact on the wellbeing.

In terms of the same, it can be viewed that the organizational systems in this model are made up of the elements of social value, job design, work environment, and management systems. This can be applied to the social structure within which an individual functions. Adding to this, self-control, relationships, and a sense of progress are self-oriented factors that determine the functionality of an individual. This model views the “negative feelings, positive feelings, engagement through work and worthwhile work" factors as indicators of wellbeing that are being derived by people due to the environment surrounding them. It indicates whether or not the environment is safe for individuals.

Figure 2: Dynamic Model of Wellbeing
(Source: Franco-Santos and Doherty, 2017)

The combination of all of the factors mentioned reflects upon the vitality, work-life balance, confidence, and happiness of an individual. Bliese et al. (2017), indicates that the dynamic model is continuous and establishes a basis of correlation in self-driven factors and the impact of the other factors. It can be ascertained that the personal resources of a person impact the self-worth of the same which in turn affect all of the elements which have been considered. Thus, determinations drawn reveal that this model is fit to describe a proper functional area in the life of an individual through the consideration of impacts that have been caused by events.

Drawing from this model, it is understood that, for young adults, this helps in understanding their well-being as a consequence of the impact of the environment, in their workspace. This allows in understanding mental health impacts and risks in their work environment. The pressure point of experience and impact of the experience on the personal resources can be ascertained too. This would also lead up to explanations and elaborations which can be drawn out in respect to the case of self-functionality. Thus this provides a consolidated overview of the personal functionality of a person in relation to the environmental factors.

Discussion of initiatives and strategies which enhance well-being of young people
There are a wide set of initiatives and strategies which have been taken up for the well-being of young people in general. The local governments have sought to implement a policy to redress loneliness in young adults through the means of personalized care and close interventions on a very personal level. These local governments seek to partner in the building of reforms. The local interventions include raising mental health and well-being awareness in schools, academies, and other bodies. The local governments also seek to create a base for strong voluntary work done to address wellbeing and mental health disparities to guide young people. Collaborating with bodies such as CCGs and NHS England to ensure that acute and integrated services can be delivered for the safeguarding of young people from wellbeing risks (Local, 2019).

It can be viewed that cross-cutting themes also have been developed to strategize the approach appropriate to the wellbeing of young adults. It can be ascertained that the holistic view in addition to the case of hearing out young people and paying appropriate attention are elementary parts of this approach. Closer fieldwork to understand the issues better is implicated. Additionally, it can be viewed that the young people workforce is another important factor that can be undertaken and ensured (Local, 2019). Additionally, close working with councillors is also encouraged through the purview of delivering wellbeing services to young adults for ensuring mitigation of psychological impacts on them. This also requires different agencies to collaborate to create a composite impact.

The young people policy covered a large number of distinctive areas which were required to be addressed. It can be viewed that the funding for youth and family services would be increased as one of the major recommendations. Additionally, meeting the basic needs of young people through a multifactorial approach was also recommended for initiatives. Additionally, to increase awareness and reach the marketing and adaptation of programs to young people were also recommended (Mentalhealth, 2021). It can be viewed that this aims towards the creation of a sound support infrastructure that needs to be maintained and undertaken for assuring a larger rate of congruence in service delivery.

Conclusion
Concluding from this study it is indicative that the major issues in relation to the wellbeing of young adults are pertinent to mental health. This implication of the case of young adults has caused social exclusion and other negative impacts to be manifested through the population of young people in the UK. Thus, the models of psychological and dynamic wellbeing shed light on how the impacts of wellbeing can be gauged on these individuals. Well-being in young people is seen to be affected by a set of internal psychological perception and personality-based factors in combination with external environmental factors which are present. A combined impact is what manifests the overall impacts.

The current interventions can be viewed to be local and national as well. It is gauged from the findings that the current structure includes the intervention through the means of localized channels along with national channel-based collaboration. Special focus and attention are being put on more person-centric wellbeing for young adults. The aim of providing wellbeing care through life stages and helping people access it more easily is also being stressed upon. Areas of improvement include the area of multicultural team collaboration which still needs to be developed. This needs to be done to assure that the services which are proposed can be implemented with full rigor and efficiency.

Reference List
Akizu-Gardoki, O., Kunze, C., Coxeter, A., Bueno, G., Wiedmann, T. and Lopez-Guede, J.M., (2020). Discovery of a possible well-being turning point within energy footprint accounts that may support the degrowth theory. Energy for Sustainable Development, 59, pp.22-32.

Bliese, P.D., Edwards, J.R. and Sonnentag, S., (2017). Stress and well-being at work: A century of empirical trends reflecting theoretical and societal influences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), p.389.

croneri.co.uk, (2019). The wellbeing agenda. Available at: https://app.croneri.co.uk/feature-articles/wellbeing-agenda [Accessed on: 2 June, 2021]

Franco-Santos, M. and Doherty, N., (2017). Performance management and well-being: a close look at the changing nature of the UK higher education workplace. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(16), pp.2319-2350.

Horwood, S. and Anglim, J., (2019). Problematic smartphone usage and subjective and psychological well-being. Psychology assignment Computers in Human Behavior, 97, pp.44-50.

local.gov.uk, (2019). Improving children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. Available at: https://www.local.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Improving%20 children%20and%20young%20people%E2%80%99s%20mental%20 health%20and%20emotional%20wellbeing.pdf [Accessed on: 2 June, 2021]

mentalhealth.org.uk, (2015). Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/blog/what-wellbeing-how-can-we-measure-it-and-how-can-we-support-people-improve-it#:~:text=Wellbeing%20is%20defined%20by%20the,%2C%20healthy%2C%20or%20happy.%E2%80%9D [Accessed on: 2 June, 2021]

mentalhealth.org.uk, (2018). Supporting Young People’s Mental Health. Psychology assignment Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/supporting_young_people.pdf [Accessed on: 2 June, 2021]

mentalhealth.org.uk, (2021). Children and young people. Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/c/children-and-young-people [Accessed on: 2 June, 2021]

mentalhealth.org.uk, (2021). Loneliness in young people: policy recommendations. Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/unlock-loneliness/policy-recommendations [Accessed on: 2 June, 2021]

Ryff, C.D., (2018). Well-being with soul: Science in pursuit of human potential. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), pp.242-248.

Sommerfeldt, S.L., Schaefer, S.M., Brauer, M., Ryff, C.D. and Davidson, R.J., (2019). Individual differences in the association between subjective stress and heart rate are related to psychological and physical well-being. Psychological science, 30(7), pp.1016-1029.

theguardian.com, (2011). The promotion of global wellbeing can drive the development agenda. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/aug/08/global-wellbeing-drive-development-agenda [Accessed on: 2 June, 2021]