Individual well-being
WBL is maintaining the emphasis from previous research on health, which is strongly linked to education in the lives of individuals and in policy delivery. However, we are broadening the scope of this strand to encompass wider notions of health more explicitly such as happiness, efficacy, confidence, as well as aspects of the consumption of education in lifestyle choices.
These are all areas in which education has substantial benefits. Some of these, such as the effect of education in reducing the risk of depression, can be evaluated in terms of reduced NHS expenditures and other social and personal costs. Others have less immediately pecuniary implications but nonetheless contribute greatly to well-being and therefore can be assessed in terms of the methods of evaluation required in the Treasury Green Book (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/economic_data_and_tools/data_index.cfm) for non-monetary benefits.
We are continuing to investigate interactions between education and health through the lifecourse. The preventative benefits of education have emerged strongly from our previous research and are an explicit theme of the 2004 Wanless review, 'Securing good health for the whole population' (http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/consultations_and_legislation/wanless/consult_wanless04_final.cfm. Interactions between health and education are a major area of cross-departmental activity and a key focus of WBL. Learning at all stages of the lifecourse can bring health benefits but much more research is needed on why this is the case and what the implications are for pedagogy, school management and funding.
