Increasing the Reliability of Wellness Metrics in Unique Groups

1. Increasing the Reliability of Wellness Metrics in Unique Groups 3rd International Conference on Gross National Happiness Bangkok: 26 November 2007 Presented by Linda A. E. Nowakowski,Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand

2. Development • Human Development Index (HDI) • Life span - objective • Literacy - objective • GDP - objective • GDP

3. Gross National Happiness • What is happiness? • Subjective • Cultural • Linguistic • Requires a degree of emotional/linguistic maturity • How is it related to development?

4. What is development? • Health of a country or group of people • Economic • Physical • Mental • Intellectual • Social • Spiritual • Cultural

5. Regression – Why measure development? • Report on who is better than whom? • To assess areas that the people are doing well in and where they need work? • Assist in guiding program development?

6. GDP • Using GDP as the measure of development only tells you how much the country has participated in the western economic model.

7. HDI • Gives you a measure of GDP • Tells how you are doing in getting people to go to school • Gives you a hint at the physical health

8. Gross National Happiness • Provides some broad and fuzzy feeling of well-being. • No indicators of the economy • No indicators of health • No indicators of education

9. Thailand’s GNH • It has shown a decline over recent reporting periods. • What does it mean?

10. Northern Uganda - 1980 • The richest farmland in the country • Large commercial farms • Educated population

11. Northern Uganda - 2007 • Civil war for the last 20 years • People living in IDP camps • External dependence for everything • Child soldiers • Broken educations • HIV/AIDS pandemic • Has killed XXXX people in YYYY years.

12. Peace on the horizon • It is safe to return to their lands • Land has been fallow for 20 years

13. Homes and equipment are gone

14. The people are gone • Uganda has thousands of child-headed households • Parents killed in the war • Parents killed by HIV/AIDS

15. The children are gone • Children who have not had the opportunity to play or learn • Children who have been raped and forced to be soldiers • Children who have had to assume the roles of adults • Hurting children with the responsibility of raising other hurt children

16. The community wisdom is gone • What crops grow best? • What do you do about the local pests? • What plants and herbs are safe to eat? • What plants and herbs can be used as local medicines?

17. Opok FarmsAn Organically Grown Community

18. Sufficiency Economy • Sufficiency entails three components: • moderation • reasonableness • a self-immunity system, i.e. being able to cope with shocks from internal and external changes. • Two underlying conditions are necessary to achieve this sufficiency: • knowledge (breadth and thoroughness in planning, and carefulness in applying knowledge and in the implementation of those plans are required) • morality(people are to possess honesty and integrity, while conducting their lives with perseverance, harmlessness and generosity)

19. Evaluating this development • Sufficiency Economy models generate little to no GDP • The children have broken educations • Many of the children are already HIV positive

20. What is happiness here? • These children will need to work for the first time in their lives • These children have few adult role models • These children have no money, no education, no vocational training and few skills • These children must behave as responsible adults

21. Coming up with new metrics • Maslow

22. Max-Neef

23. UN Millenium Development Goals • Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger • Improve maternal health • Achieve universal primary education • Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases • Promote gender equality and empower women • Ensure environmental sustainability • Reduce child mortality • Develop a global partnership for development

24. Health of a country or group of people • Physical health – individual and family • Mental / psychological health– individual, family and community • Mental / intellectual health – individual, family and community • Political health – community and nation • Social health – family and community • Spiritual health – individual, family and community • Financial health – individual, family and community

25. Needs • A list of indicators for each area • Objective • Subjective • Specific • Guidance for communities on how to set goals

26. Goals and toolbox – what next? • Selection of indicators by the community based on the goals. • Administration of the survey • Evaluation

27. Sample list • Physical health – individual: • Adequate diet • Calories • Under-development • Height • Weight • Access to health care • Contraceptive use • Infant mortality rate • Low birth rate • Children born with attending health care professional • Availability of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) • Immunizations – measles, tuberculosis • Incidence of tuberculosis • Number of children under 5 with fever receiving anti malarial drugs • Days absent from school or work due to illness. • Healthy life style • Insecticide treated bed nets • Sustainable access to clean water • Sustainable access to sanitary • CO2 emissions per capita • Prevalence of smoking • Prevalence of drinking • Other • Life expectancy • Population growth rate • Shelter – living in permanent shelter • Clothing – changes of clothes and appropriateness

28. A toast: To a future of community defined, driven and evaluated development