1.1  Putting wellbeing into practice

As you work through the content of this course, you will see that there are a series of activities for you to complete. These are designed to enable you to begin creating a ‘theory of change’ record for the work you are undertaking. In other words, it will give you a roadmap for putting your ideas around wellbeing into practice.

There are many different models but in general, a theory of change sets out the following:

  • What goal you wish to achieve and what outcomes you are looking for.
  • What changes you need to put in place to achieve these outcomes and reach this goal.
  • What is involved in each of these changes.
  • How you will evaluate the results of these changes and outcomes.

You may have a number of goals. If these are closely linked, your theory of change may cover all of them. However, if each goal is sufficiently distinctive, you may wish to develop separate theories of change for them.

You can create a theory of change at the start of a project, but you can also create one at any time during its lifecycle. Therefore, whether you are taking up a new role or are already well-established in a role, these activities will be relevant.

It is worth noting that developing a theory of change is commonly done by co-creating it with a range of relevant stakeholders. Therefore, you should treat the theory of change you begin to develop during this course as a starting point to open up discussions. A theory of change is also often depicted in a visual form, so you may wish to translate your notes from the activities into a flow chart or other diagrammatic form.

The next activity is designed to develop your knowledge of what a theory of change is and how it can be applied in your own workplace context.

Activity 1  Exploring models of theory of change

Timing: Allow around 30 minutes

Begin by spending some time researching theory of change models online. This could involve looking at the theory behind it, the different components of the models that are available and/or examples of applications of these models. One example of a theory of change is the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner Lawyer Wellbeing Systems Theory of Change [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] (2025).

Next, create a document (either hard copy or electronic) which will become your own ‘theory of change’ record. Ensure you have this somewhere easily accessible to keep adding to it.

Discussion

You may choose to create a simple document to type in, or you may choose to utilise a tool which enables you to create a visual depiction of your ideas.

Next, go to 2  The context of wellbeing support in legal workplaces.

1  Why wellbeing?