A Checklist to Design and Evaluate Systems-Informed Wellbeing Initiatives: A Mixed Methods Validation Study
type: CreativeWork
description: The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on global mental health struggles, underscoring the need to prioritize wellbeing. Many disciplines currently research aspects of wellbeing, ranging from psychology, behavioral economics, public health, and public policy, to prevention, evaluation, and education. However, researchers have rarely integrated insights across disciplines or extracted meaningful nuance from real-world applications. Many wellbeing interventions can also fall short due to poor design and execution as well as inadequate application of systems thinking and culturally responsive lenses. This dissertation addressed these gaps by creating a structured framework for crafting and assessing systems-informed wellbeing initiatives in the form of the Wellbeing Initiative Design & Evaluation Checklist (WIDEC). It uncovered critical factors that contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of wellbeing initiatives by taking a systems-informed, culturally responsive approach and combining insights from research and practice across disciplines. A Mixed Methods Exploratory Sequential Design was employed to develop and validate the Checklist. Phase 1 ( n = 41) encompassed a literature review and interviews to create a theoretical framework via Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Directed Content Analysis. Phase 2 involved transforming this theoretical framework into a Checklist with guidance from Stufflebeam's Checklist Evaluation Checklist. Lastly, Phase 3 included Western Michigan University’s two-step validation process consisting of Phase 3a’s critical feedback evaluation survey ( n =24) and Phase 3b’s field test ( n = 3). The samples across phases consisted of experts who had been involved in systems-informed wellbeing initiatives as practitioners or practitioner-scholars in organizations, educational institutions, or communities. These samples were representative of the intended users of the Checklist. Findings from Phase 1 identified the critical components of effec…
abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on global mental health struggles, underscoring the need to prioritize wellbeing. Many disciplines currently research aspects of wellbeing, ranging from psychology, behavioral economics, public health, and public policy, to prevention, evaluation, and education. However, researchers have rarely integrated insights across disciplines or extracted meaningful nuance from real-world applications. Many wellbeing interventions can also fall short due to poor design and execution as well as inadequate application of systems thinking and culturally responsive lenses. This dissertation addressed these gaps by creating a structured framework for crafting and assessing systems-informed wellbeing initiatives in the form of the Wellbeing Initiative Design & Evaluation Checklist (WIDEC). It uncovered critical factors that contribute to the effectiveness and sustainability of wellbeing initiatives by taking a systems-informed, culturally responsive approach and combining insights from research and practice across disciplines. A Mixed Methods Exploratory Sequential Design was employed to develop and validate the Checklist. Phase 1 ( n = 41) encompassed a literature review and interviews to create a theoretical framework via Reflexive Thematic Analysis and Directed Content Analysis. Phase 2 involved transforming this theoretical framework into a Checklist with guidance from Stufflebeam's Checklist Evaluation Checklist. Lastly, Phase 3 included Western Michigan University’s two-step validation process consisting of Phase 3a’s critical feedback evaluation survey ( n =24) and Phase 3b’s field test ( n = 3). The samples across phases consisted of experts who had been involved in systems-informed wellbeing initiatives as practitioners or practitioner-scholars in organizations, educational institutions, or communities. These samples were representative of the intended users of the Checklist. Findings from Phase 1 identified the critical components of effec…
author: Gaffaney, Jaclyn
keywords: checklist, mental health, mixed methods, positive psychology, systems thinking, well-being, Educational Psychology, Psychology
date published: 2024-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:40:36Z
provider: Claremont Graduate University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Claremont Graduate University