Mental health and wellbeing index user guide

Mental health and wellbeing are key areas in public health. The most recent survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing in England found that one in six people aged 16+ had experienced symptoms of a common mental health problem, such as depression or anxiety, in the past week¹. Improving people's mental health and wellbeing leads to other improvements across their lives, including building better social relationships, improved productivity and attendance at work, as well as reducing the risk of physical health problems over time.

To help us better understand mental health and wellbeing in our population, a mental health and wellbeing index has been produced for Hampshire. This tool aims to assess the mental health and wellbeing of people and communities within each middle layer super output area across the county.

Middle layer super output areas are a census statistical geography and contain between 2,000 and 6,000 households and usually have a resident population of between 5,000 and 15,000 people. There are currently 170 middle layer super output areas across Hampshire.

This index is based on the domains of the Wellbeing and Resilience Measure (WARM) which were chosen because of their suitability for assessing wellbeing at a small area level. The tool aims to draw on national and local data to provide a means of understanding and identifying an area's strengths, such as qualifications, social capital and enabling infrastructure; as well as vulnerabilities such as social isolation, high crime and unemployment.

There are three domains which can be combined to examine an overall index or analysed separately.

Limitations: The Index is limited by the availability of relevant data at MSOA level. Some of the data used within the Index are modelled from known socio-economic characteristics rather than collected directly. Some of the indicators will be correlated with one another or drawn from the same source of data. As a result, the Index is not intended to be used as a standalone tool but within the context of local knowledge and other available data.

¹ Mental health statistics: prevalence, services and funding in England - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk)

Download the complete user guide

Indicators

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Index brings together a wide range of data sets covering topics including health, education, safeguarding, social capital, life satisfaction, infrastructure, the local economy and crime.

The Index is limited by the availability of relevant data at ward level. Some of the data used within the Index are modelled from known socio-economic characteristics rather than collected directly.

As a result, the Index is not intended to be used as a standalone tool but within the context of local knowledge and other available data.