2.3 Different dimensions of wellbeing

Section 2.1 referred to the dimensions of wellbeing the UK ONS (Office for National Statistics) uses to measure young people’s wellbeing, which were:

• personal
• relational
• health-based
• occupational
• environmental
• financial
• educational/skills-based.

If you research dimensions of wellbeing (often called ‘wellness’ in the USA) you will find other categorisations that range from five elements (typically aligned to the PERMA model described in the previous section) to eight elements. Eight seems to be the most common set, and comprises the types of wellbeing illustrated in Figure 3.

Maximise

Figure 3 Dimensions of wellbeing.

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A diagram containing three concentric circles. The inner circle contains the words ‘Workplace Wellbeing’. The middle circle contains the words ‘My Self’, ‘My Organisation’, ‘My Team’ and ‘My Work’. The outer circle lists eight different types of wellbeing, each of which has a circular icon representing it. The types are: Emotional/mental wellbeing, Environmental wellbeing, Financial wellbeing, Intellectual wellbeing, Occupational wellbeing, Physical wellbeing, Social wellbeing, and Spiritual wellbeing.

Figure 3 Dimensions of wellbeing.

This course considers the post-COVID-19 digital landscape and the hybrid ways of working that have emerged in response to the pandemic, so much of it will be focused on factors relating to occupational (work-based) wellbeing. However, occupational wellbeing is hugely affected by your mental and physical health. Additionally, it’s difficult to entirely separate what happens during working hours from every other aspect of your wellbeing, so the course will inevitably touch on several of the other dimensions listed above, to a greater or lesser degree.