The government has announced the launch of a new wellness-focused policy think tank to evaluate services and interventions through the prism of wellbeing.

The ‘What Works Centre for Wellbeing’ is the latest addition to the ‘What Works Network’, which was launched by the government last year to improve public services through evidence-based policy and practice. The new centre will soon be commissioning universities to research the impact that different interventions and services have on wellbeing.

Following the publication of its Everybody Active, Every Day framework last week – which outlined recommendations for tackling the UK’s physical inactivity epidemic – Public Health England (PHE) has been announced as one of the key development partners for the ‘What Works Centre for Wellbeing.’

The centre has initial funding of more than £3.5m over three years, with in-kind resourcing and support from a number of founding partners. Research grants will be awarded to successful university bid teams in spring 2015, with a view to their starting work on 1 June 2015. The centre will become completely operational once research teams are fully resourced, at the earliest by the end of 2015.

“The shift to wellbeing is a key aspect of public health and there are clear benefits to this approach,” Professor Kevin Fenton, PHE executive director of health and wellbeing.

“We are keen to see the evidence of what works for wellbeing much more effectively disseminated and adopted across the country. We are confident that this work will lead to better outcomes for health in communities, workplaces and more widely.”

To read an exclusive interview with Professor Kevin Fenton about the ‘wicked problem’ of physical inactivity – from the February edition of Health Club Management magazine – click here.