Measuring the Well-Being of the Whole Person in Clinical Care, Health Research, and Population Health Evaluation: Findings and Recommendations From the XVIII Veterans Health Administration State of the Art Meeting.

Abstract

Objectives: In 2023, the U.S. Veterans Health Administration convened a State of the Art meeting to evaluate the existing evidence and make recommendations for measuring the well-being of the whole person in clinical care, health research, and population health evaluation. In this article, we describe findings and recommendations concerning each of these health care system functions, as well as key takeaways from the meeting as a whole.

Background: There has been a growing call for health care organizations to expand their focus beyond disease-based concepts to consider both positive aspects of health and indicators of well-being that extend beyond the health domain. Yet, knowledge remains limited regarding how best to integrate these types of measurements in clinical care, health research, and population health evaluation efforts.

Method: State of the Art activities were organized into 3 workstreams, each focused on a core health care system function (clinical care, health research, and population health evaluation). Drawing from existing literature on the measurement of the well-being of the whole person in the assigned health care function, workgroups evaluated the existing state of knowledge and made recommendations for future work on well-being measurement in the health care setting.

Results: Cross-cutting themes included: (1) difficulty evaluating the current state of knowledge due to varied use of terminology in this literature; (2) appreciation for the value of well-being measurement in each health care function; (3) need for additional research on the use and benefits of well-being measures, including their role as predictors and moderators of health and health care outcomes; (4) importance of ensuring that measures are applicable for diverse patient groups and adequately reflect the "patient voice;" and (5) need for additional leadership investment and resource allocation to support use of these measures in the health care setting.

Conclusions: Knowledge from this meeting can be applied to enhance the use and application of measurement of well-being to improve patients' health and health care outcomes.