What Does Community Well-Being Mean in the University Setting? Staff Perspectives on Connection, Compassion, and Culture
Dados Bibliográficos
AUTOR(ES) | |
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ANO | 2025 |
TIPO | Artigo |
PERIÓDICO | Social Indicators Research |
ISSN | 0303-8300 |
E-ISSN | 1573-0921 |
EDITORA | Publisher 20 |
DOI | 10.1007/s11205-025-03651-5 |
ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
Resumo
Settings approaches are vital for positive health promotion at scale, including mental well-being. These can be designed to fit the local context where people live, work and study. Universities are large employers, and there is a drive for settings-based approaches in the workplace. Community well-being is about 'being well together' as a collective, and can be applied to communities based on location as well as communities of shared values, interest and purpose, such as an organisation. Designing well-being initiatives and interventions could be informed through the community well-being lens. This study aimed to explore what university staff think are components of community well-being in the workplace. Semi-structured interviews guided by photo-elicitation (n = 15) explored the concept of community well-being. Three themes were created through Reflexive Thematic Analysis of the data: Social and Connected University; Physical Environment; and Compassionate and Supportive Culture. Activities, events and spaces that facilitate getting together, a campus and spaces within it that fosters identity and belonging to the university community, and a culture that nourishes connection, collegiality and participation are all key components of community well-being in universities. Understanding these components has implications for designing well-being initiatives that go beyond the individual. The components identified here also give insights into how community well-being could be operationalised in the workplace setting.