Wellbeing is more than just physical health. It covers all aspects of a person, including the skills and opportunities he or she needs to live a meaningful life. In urban areas, wellbeing is more than just the health of a community. It also includes residents' satisfaction, connectedness, and ability to reach full potential. (Other dimensions of wellbeing include community connections, characteristics of place, learning, and economic opportunity.)

The city of Santa Monica, California, wanted to incorporate wellbeing into city planning, policies, and programs. But first it needed a way to measure community wellbeing.

One of five cities to win the Bloomberg Philanthropies' inaugural Mayor's Challenge, Santa Monica used its $1,000,000 award to develop and implement the first local Wellbeing Index. RAND researchers, as part of a team of experts that made up the Wellbeing Project, created the Wellbeing Index.

The Wellbeing Index aimed to assess wellbeing in Santa Monica and create a framework for the city to discuss how government, community partners, and residents could work together to help the community thrive.

Researchers identified several challenges facing Santa Monica.

  • Residents were not as healthy as expected.
  • Many residents lacked strong social connections and a sense of neighborhood cohesion.
  • Younger residents reported difficulties related to community connection and overall personal outlook or wellbeing.
  • Latino residents reported low wellbeing.
  • Wellbeing strengths and needs differed by zip code.
  • Gaps in overall wellbeing for men in the areas of community, health, and learning would benefit from greater attention.
  • Housing was an issue for one in five residents.
  • Almost one-third of residents experienced stress some or all of the time.
  • Many residents volunteer and vote, but few feel that they have influence in decisionmaking.

The Wellbeing Project helped Santa Monica use growing partnerships between government and nongovernmental organizations.

Read the full article about measuring wellbeing to help communities by Anita Chandra at RAND Corporation.