Wheel of Wellbeing (WoW) health promotion program: Australian participants report on their experiences and impacts

BACKGROUND: Community-based mental health promotion programs focus on improving individual and community wellbeing by strengthening resilience and building capacity to support positive health outcomes. The Wheel of Wellbeing (WoW) is an example of such a program, promoting activities that support social engagement and positive emotions within a holistic framework underpinned by positive psychology. WoW is intended to be flexibly implemented in each community, training community members who implement behaviour change activities in their local community, workplace and educational settings. METHOD: This study aimed to understand the opinions and experiences of a sample of individuals who had participated in a range of WoW training programs; documenting the impact on participant behaviours and professional practices, and how the WoW framework was subsequently employed within their communities. Using Ripple Effects Mapping evaluation processes to guide a focus group, nine WoW training participants collectively reflected on the program impacts, generating consensus themes and a mind map. Mind map qualitative data were entered into XMIND mapping software and reviewed with the focus group transcription and field notes. RESULTS: Thematic analysis identified three themes: increased community involvement and engagement (strengthening community connections); improved health, emotions and behaviour (motivating change to health behaviours); and flexible resources which could be utilised in a range of settings (easily incorporated in the existing organisational cultures). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support the premise that the WoW framework can be an effective framework for guiding wellbeing promotion activities, with participants championing a ‘ripple effect’ across individual, family, friendship, professional and community networks.