This is an open access title. It is available to read and download as a free PDF version on the Oxford Academic platform. It is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International licence. Around the world, governments are starting to directly measure the subjective wellbeing of their citizens and to use it for policy evaluation and appraisal. What would happen if a country were to move from using GDP to using subjective wellbeing as the primary metric for measuring economic and societal progress? Would policy priorities change? Would we continue to care about economic growth? What role would different government institutions play in such a scenario? And, most importantly, how could this be implemented in daily practice, for example in policy evaluations and appraisals of government analysts, or in political agenda-setting at the top level? This volume provides answers to these questions from a conceptual to technical level, by showing how direct measures of subjective wellbeing can be used for policy evaluation and appraisal, either complementary in the short-run or even entirely in the long-run. It gives a brief history of the idea that governments should care about the happiness of their citizens, provides theories, makes suggestions for direct measurement, derives technical standards and makes suggestions on how to conduct wellbeing cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses, and gives examples of how real-world policy evaluations and appraisals would change if they were based on subjective wellbeing. In doing so, it serves the growing interest of governments as well as non-governmental and international organisations in how to put subjective wellbeing metrics into policy practice.

Build a better society through happiness policy Thomas Jefferson said that “the purpose of government is to enable the people of a nation to live in safety and happiness.” Yet only now, 270 years later, is the happiness of citizens starting to be taken seriously as the purpose of government. While happiness science is advancing rapidly, and governments and organizations are creating indices for measuring happiness, there is little practical information on how to create policy to advance happiness. Drawing from a deep well of expertise and experience, The Happiness Policy Handbook is the first step-by-step guide for integrating happiness into government policy at all levels. Coverage includes: A concise background on happiness science, indices and indicators, and happiness in public policy Tools for formulating happiness policy and integrating happiness into administrative functions A concept menu of happiness policies Communicating happiness policy objectives to media and engaging with the community A happiness policy screening tool for evaluating the happiness contribution of any policy Policy perspectives from seasoned experts across sectors. The Happiness Policy Handbook is the essential resource for policymakers and professionals working to integrate happiness and well-being into governmental processes and institutions.

The Routledge Handbook of Well-Being explores diverse conceptualisations of well-being, providing an overview of key issues and drawing attention to current debates and critiques. Taken as a whole, this important work offers new clarification of the widely used notion of well-being, focusing particularly on experiential perspectives. Bringing together leading authors from around the world, Routledge Handbook of Well-Being reflects on: What it is that is experienced by humans that can be called well-being. What we know about how to understand it. How well-being is manifested in human endeavours through a wide range of disciplines, including the arts. This comprehensive reference work will provide an authoritative overview for students, practitioners, researchers and policy makers working in or concerned with well-being, health, illness and the relation between all three across a range of disciplines, from sociology, healthcare and economics to philosophy and the creative arts.

In this accessible collection, leading academic economists, psychologists and philosophers apply behavioural economic findings to practical policy concerns.

The authors explain why subjective indicators of well-being are needed, showing how these can offer useful input and giving examples of policy uses of well-being measures. They also describe the validity of the subjective well-being measures as well as potential problems, then delve into objections to their use for policy purposes.

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Health literacy addresses a range of social dimensions of health, including knowledge, navigation and communication, as well as individual and organizational skills for accessing, understanding, evaluating and using information. Particularly over the past decade, health literacy has globally become a major public health concern as an asset for promoting health, wellbeing and sustainable development. This comprehensive handbook provides an invaluable overview of current international thinking about health literacy, highlighting cutting edge research, policy and practice in the field. With a diverse team of contributors, the book addresses health literacy across the life-span and offers insights from different populations and settings. Providing a wide range of major findings, the book outlines current discourse in the field and examines necessary future dialogues and new perspectives.

The Handbook of Family Policy examines how state and workplace policies support parents and their children in developing, earning and caring. With original contributions from 44 leading scholars, this Handbook provides readers with up-to-date knowledge on family policies and family policy research, taking stock of current literature as well as providing analyses of present-day policies, and where they should head in the future.

The environment that we construct affects both humans and our natural world in myriad ways. There is a pressing need to create healthy places and to reduce the health threats inherent in places already built. However, there has been little awareness of the adverse effects of what we have constructed-or the positive benefits of well designed built environments. This book provides a far-reaching follow-up to the pathbreaking Urban Sprawl and Public Health, published in 2004. That book sparked a range of inquiries into the connections between constructed environments, particularly cities and suburbs, and the health of residents, especially humans. Since then, numerous studies have extended and refined the book's research and reporting. Making Healthy Places offers a fresh and comprehensive look at this vital subject today. There is no other book with the depth, breadth, vision, and accessibility that this book offers. In addition to being of particular interest to undergraduate and graduate students in public health and urban planning, it will be essential reading for public health officials, planners, architects, landscape architects, environmentalists, and all those who care about the design of their communities. Like a well-trained doctor, Making Healthy Places presents a diagnosis of--and offers treatment for--problems related to the built environment. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, with contributions from experts in a range of fields, it imparts a wealth of practical information, with an emphasis on demonstrated and promising solutions to commonly occurring problems.

Urban planning is deeply implicated in both the planetary crisis of climate change and the personal crises of unhealthy lifestyles. Worldwide health issues such as obesity, mental illness, growing health inequalities and climate vulnerability cannot be solved solely by medicines but also by tackling the social, economic and environmental determinants. In a time when unhealthy and unsustainable conditions are being built into the physical fabric of cities, a new awareness and strategy is urgently needed to putting health and well-being at the heart of planning. The Routledge Handbook of Planning for Health and Well-being authoritatively and comprehensively integrates health into planning, strengthening the hands of those who argue and plan for healthy environments. With contributions from international leaders in the field, the Handbook of Planning for Health and Well-being provides context, philosophy, research, processes, and tools of experienced practitioners through case studies from four continents.

The Routledge Handbook of Media Use and Well-Being serves as the first international review of the current state of this fast-developing area of research. The volume provides a multifaceted perspective on the beneficial as well as the detrimental effects of media exposure on psychological health and well-being. As a "first-mover," it will define the field of media use and well-being and provide an essential resource for research and teaching in this area. The volume is structured along four central considerations: Processes presents concepts that provide a theoretical bridge between media use and well-being, such as psychological need satisfaction, recovery from stress and strain, self-presentation and self-enhancement, or parasocial interactions with media characters, providing a comprehensive understanding of the underlying processes that drive psychological health and well-being through media. Moderators examines both risk factors that promote negative effects on well-being and protective factors that foster positive media effects. Contexts bridges the gap between theory and "real life" by illustrating how media use can influence well-being and satisfaction in very different life domains, covering the full spectrum of everyday life by addressing the public, private, and work spheres. Audiences takes a look at the influence of life phases and life situations on the interplay of media use and well-being, questioning whether various user groups differ with regard to the effects of media exposure. Bringing together the expertise of outstanding international scholars from multiple disciplines, including communication, media psychology, social psychology, clinical psychology, and media education, this handbook sheds new light on the role of media in influencing and affecting emotions.