This paper proposes a systems-level effectiveness study of ‘The Certificate In Creating Wellbeing’ (CCWB). The CCWB is a mixed-delivery (online and/or face-to-face) program designed to enhance participant wellbeing knowledge and skills in caring for (and helping others to care for) their wellbeing.
This program was originally developed for members of Midland County by The Wellbeing Lab’s Dr. Michelle McQuaid, Naomi Hill et al. in rapid response to the increased mental health burdens of the global pandemic and the resulting urgent need for the community to enhance their levels of wellbeing literacy and combat increased loneliness while working remotely.
With many communities and organisations experiencing similar challenges, the demand for this systems-informed, 3-month long certificate was high – outpacing The Wellbeing Lab’s ability to evaluate and enhance the program’s effectiveness.
As is common with systems-informed wellbeing initiatives (Jarden et al., 2021), a lack of pre- and post-measures, as well as a lack of meaningful qualitative analysis of participant’s experiences, learnings, and community impact, has meant that there is currently little data of empirical value to share on the effectiveness of a program that has, as one participant exclaimed, ‘changed my life’.
This paper aims to contribute to the growing body of research in the evaluation of systems-level wellbeing interventions, by exploring the inherent challenges, and proposing an innovative new approach towards the meaningful evaluation of such a broad-reaching (with participants across the world), multifaceted (with many different methods of learning, including: lectures, group coaching, peer coaching, self-directed projects) wellbeing program.