Primary Research - Wellbeing

I had previously spoken to Katie Hughes about my plans for my final major project at the virgin media box artwork exhibition. I got talking to her through being part of this project. Katie lives in Headingley and works in welfare at Leeds University so has a good knowledge of living well and healthy lifestyles. I contacted her for some information. 

I specified for Katie to focus her response around female students because I see my work for this project being aimed at a female audience and I know that her work focusses on students. 

This was her response…

Main points

Problems

• Pressures of adult life and academic expectations. 
• A fear of missing out. 
• Feeling like a failure for not enjoying yourself all the time. 
• Doubts about the future. 

Calming

• Being creative. 
• Physical activity.
• Meditation. 
• Making real life connections/relationships. 
• Bonding - common interests, food. 

Feeling in control

• I like what Katie said here about wellbeing not being about ‘clean eating’ because this makes additional pressures and expectations. 
• Socialising, talking, bonding, sharing experiences. 
• ‘Eating food you like with friends is known to benefit mental health.’ 

My plans for this project moved on a lot between the time when I initially mentioned it to her and when I actually sent the email. I didn’t know whether the information she could give me wold still be relevant because I had moved away from the idea of mental health and just wanted to focus on lifestyle themes. However, this information that Katie has shared with me has made me realise that there is still a strong connection between the two topics. I don’t have to make my project all about mental health for it to have a positive impact. Focussing on lifestyle, things like encouraging people to cook group meals, is all little steps to help improve people’s happiness and outlook on life. I can bring in elements of the principles I am learning from different countries to inspire this.