A Calculation of National Wellness
Traditional measures of national progress such as GDP and economic indicators fail to capture important dimensions of population wellbeing. This research develops and applies a comprehensive calculation of national wellness that integrates health, social, economic, environmental, and psychological indicators into a holistic assessment of population thriving.
The wellness calculation methodology draws on diverse data sources including public health statistics, social indicators, environmental quality measures, and subjective wellbeing surveys to create composite indices that more accurately reflect the true state of population health and quality of life.
Results reveal significant disparities between economic indicators and wellness measures, identifying areas where economic growth has not translated into improved population wellbeing and highlighting intervention opportunities for policy and program development.
This work supports the growing movement toward wellness-based policy frameworks that prioritize population thriving over purely economic measures of progress, aligning with the Samu Eli Institute’s vision of comprehensive health optimization at the population level.