A Toolkit for Wellbeing

Mental Well-being Impact Assessment (MWIA) enables people and organisations to assess and improve a policy, programme, service or project to ensure it has a maximum equitable impact on people’s mental well-being.

This MWIA toolkit for well-being provides an evidence based framework for improving well-being through commissioning processes, project and service design and delivery, community engagement and impact assessment. It enables people and organisations to assess and improve a policy, programme, service or project to ensure it has a maximum equitable impact on people’s mental well-being, and to identify ways to measure those impacts.

It has been developed by a partnership of specialists and organisations bringing together mental health and well-being and Health Impact Assessment (HIA) knowledge and skills. There has been a development process over seven years beginning in Lewisham and Lambeth and developed further in the north west of England and latterly supported and funded by the former National Mental Health Development Unit (NMHDU). A National Collaborative steering group oversees the development and implementation of MWIA, including capacity building and policy development.

The MWIA Toolkit introduces the user to the policy and evidence base for mental well-being (in England), and provides a framework and resources to undertake a MWIA. It is published in sections that follow the MWIA process. Some sections can be used as a ​‘stand alone’ resource such as the Screening Toolkit and the Indicator section