Well-being is an outcome that is meaningful to the public.Well-being is a valid population outcome measure beyond morbidity, mortality, and economic status that tells us how people perceive their life is going from their own perspective.Well-being integrates mental health (mind) and physical health (body) resulting in more holistic approaches to disease prevention and health promotion.Why is well-being useful for public health? What is CDC doing to examine and promote well-being?.What is the difference between health-related quality of life, well-being, flourishing, positive mental health, optimal health, happiness, subjective well-being, psychological well-being, life satisfaction, hedonic well-being, and other terms that exist in the literature?.What are some correlates of well-being at the national level?.What are some correlates and determinants of individual-level well-being?.What are some findings from these studies?.How does well-being relate to health promotion?.Why is well-being useful for public health?.

However, many indicators that measure living conditions fail to measure what people think and feel about their lives, such as the quality of their relationships, their positive emotions and resilience, the realization of their potential, or their overall satisfaction with life-i.e., their “well-being.” 1, 2 Well-being generally includes global judgments of life satisfaction and feelings ranging from depression to joy. Tracking these conditions is important for public policy. Good living conditions (e.g., housing, employment) are fundamental to well-being. Well-being is a positive outcome that is meaningful for people and for many sectors of society, because it tells us that people perceive that their lives are going well.

Hedonic scale