IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v10y2013i8p3435-3452d27773.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Focusing Resource Allocation-Wellbeing as a Tool for Prioritizing Interventions for Communities at Risk

Author

Listed:
  • Anthony Hogan

    (The Australian and New Zealand School of Government's Institute for Governance, University of Canberra, University Drive South, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia
    School of Sociology, The Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia)

  • Robert Tanton

    (The National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, University of Canberra, University Drive South, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia)

  • Stewart Lockie

    (School of Sociology, The Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia)

  • Sarah May

    (School of Sociology, The Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia)

Abstract

Objective : This study examined whether a wellbeing approach to resilience and adaptation would provide practical insights for prioritizing support to communities experiencing environmental and socio-economic stressors. Methods : A cross-sectional survey, based on a purposive sample of 2,196 stakeholders (landholders, hobby farmers, town resident and change agents) from three irrigation-dependent communities in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin. Respondents’ adaptive capacity and wellbeing (individual and collective adaptive capacity, subjective wellbeing, social support, community connectivity, community leadership, in the context of known life stressors) were examined using chi-square, comparison of mean scores, hierarchical regression and factor-cluster analysis. Results : Statistically significant correlations ( p < 0.05) were observed between individual (0.331) and collective (0.318) adaptive capacity and wellbeing. Taking into account respondents’ self-assessed health and socio-economic circumstances, perceptions of individual (15%) and collective adaptive capacity (10%) as well as community connectivity (13%) were associated with wellbeing (R 2 = 0.36; F (9, 2099) = 132.9; p < 0.001). Cluster analysis found that 11% of respondents were particularly vulnerable, reporting below average scores on all indicators, with 56% of these reporting below threshold scores on subjective wellbeing. Conclusions : Addressing the capacity of individuals to work with others and to adapt to change, serve as important strategies in maintaining wellbeing in communities under stress. The human impacts of exogenous stressors appear to manifest themselves in poorer health outcomes; addressing primary stressors may in turn aid wellbeing. Longitudinal studies are indicated to verify these findings. Wellbeing may serve as a useful and parsimonious proxy measure for resilience and adaptive capacity.

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony Hogan & Robert Tanton & Stewart Lockie & Sarah May, 2013. "Focusing Resource Allocation-Wellbeing as a Tool for Prioritizing Interventions for Communities at Risk," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:8:p:3435-3452:d:27773
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/8/3435/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/8/3435/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Cummins, 2003. "Normative Life Satisfaction: Measurement Issues and a Homeostatic Model," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 225-256, November.
    2. Robert Cummins, 1995. "On the trail of the gold standard for subjective well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 35(2), pages 179-200, June.
    3. Ann Dale & Chris Ling & Lenore Newman, 2010. "Community Vitality: The Role of Community-Level Resilience Adaptation and Innovation in Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(1), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Anthony Hogan & Adam Bode & Helen Berry, 2011. "Farmer Health and Adaptive Capacity in the Face of Climate Change and Variability. Part 2: Contexts, Personal Attributes and Behaviors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-14, October.
    5. Helen L. Berry & Anthony Hogan & Suan Peng Ng & Anne Parkinson, 2011. "Farmer Health and Adaptive Capacity in the Face of Climate Change and Variability. Part 1: Health as a Contributor to Adaptive Capacity and as an Outcome from Pressures Coping with Climate Related Adv," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, October.
    6. Robert Tanton & Itismita Mohanty & Anthony Hogan, 2012. "Reasons for homeostatic failure in subjective wellbeing," NATSEM Working Paper Series 12/18, University of Canberra, National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shona C. Easton-Gomez & Mike Mouritz & Jessica K. Breadsell, 2022. "Enhancing Emotional Resilience in the Face of Climate Change Adversity: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-23, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Monica Guillen-Royo, 2008. "Consumption and Subjective Wellbeing: Exploring Basic Needs, Social Comparison, Social Integration and Hedonism in Peru," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 535-555, December.
    2. Adrian Tomyn & Jacolyn Norrish & Robert Cummins, 2013. "The Subjective Wellbeing of Indigenous Australian Adolescents: Validating the Personal Wellbeing Index-School Children," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(3), pages 1013-1031, February.
    3. R. Gargiulo & Mark Stokes, 2009. "Subjective Well-Being as an Indicator for Clinical Depression," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 92(3), pages 517-527, July.
    4. Loraine Lavallee & P. Hatch & Alex Michalos & Tara McKinley, 2007. "Development of the Contentment with Life Assessment Scale (CLAS): Using Daily Life Experiences to Verify Levels of Self-Reported Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 201-244, September.
    5. Lufanna Lai & Robert Cummins, 2013. "The Contribution of Job and Partner Satisfaction to the Homeostatic Defense of Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 111(1), pages 203-217, March.
    6. Michèle Baumann & Kénora Chau & Bernard Kabuth & Nearkasen Chau, 2014. "Association Between Health-Related Quality of Life and Being an Immigrant Among Adolescents, and the Role of Socioeconomic and Health-Related Difficulties," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-21, January.
    7. Anita Hubley & Lara Russell & Anita Palepu & Stephen Hwang, 2014. "Subjective Quality of Life Among Individuals who are Homeless: A Review of Current Knowledge," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 509-524, January.
    8. Diep Ngoc Nguyen & Long Hoang Nguyen & Cuong Tat Nguyen & Hai Quang Pham & Jongnam Hwang & Giang Thu Vu & Bach Xuan Tran & Carl A. Latkin & Cyrus S. H. Ho & Roger C. M. Ho, 2019. "Health Status and Health Service Utilization among Vietnamese Farmers in a Mountainous Province," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-12, November.
    9. Donghyun Kim & Up Lim, 2016. "Urban Resilience in Climate Change Adaptation: A Conceptual Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-17, April.
    10. Chia-Huei Wu & Ying-Mei Tsai & Lung Chen, 2009. "How do Positive Views Maintain Life Satisfaction?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 91(2), pages 269-281, April.
    11. Tineke DeJonge & Wim Kalmijn & Ruut Veenhoven & Lidia Arends, 2015. "Stability of Boundaries Between Response Options of Response Scales: Does ‘Very Happy’ Remain Equally Happy over the Years?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 241-266, August.
    12. repec:cup:judgdm:v:4:y:2009:i:1:p:102-112 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Andrew S. Mitchell & Mark Lemon & Wim Lambrechts, 2020. "Learning from the Anthropocene: Adaptive Epistemology and Complexity in Strategic Managerial Thinking," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-16, May.
    14. Jacolyn Norrish & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2008. "Is the Study of Happiness a Worthy Scientific Pursuit?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(3), pages 393-407, July.
    15. Main, Gill & Montserrat, Carme & Andresen, Sabine & Bradshaw, Jonathan & Lee, Bong Joo, 2019. "Inequality, material well-being, and subjective well-being: Exploring associations for children across 15 diverse countries," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 3-13.
    16. Ana Blasco-Belled & Claudia Tejada-Gallardo & Cristina Torrelles-Nadal & Carles Alsinet, 2020. "The Costs of the COVID-19 on Subjective Well-Being: An Analysis of the Outbreak in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-14, August.
    17. Oriol, Xavier & Torres, Javier & Miranda, Rafael & Bilbao, Marian & Ortúzar, Harry, 2017. "Comparing family, friends and satisfaction with school experience as predictors of SWB in children who have and have not made the transition to middle school in different countries," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 149-156.
    18. Pierluigi Conzo & Giulia Fuochi & Letizia Mencarini, 2017. "Fertility and Life Satisfaction in Rural Ethiopia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(4), pages 1331-1351, August.
    19. Hui-Ling Wendy Pan & Chih-Hung Chung & Yi-Chun Lin, 2023. "Exploring the Predictors of Teacher Well-Being: An Analysis of Teacher Training Preparedness, Autonomy, and Workload," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-14, March.
    20. Haya Al-Ajlani & Luc Ootegem & Elsy Verhofstadt, 2020. "Does Well-Being Vary with an Individual-Specific Weighting Scheme?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1285-1302, November.
    21. Sijia Li & Chao Wu & Yu Lin & Zhengyang Li & Qingyun Du, 2020. "Urban Morphology Promotes Urban Vibrancy from the Spatiotemporal and Synergetic Perspectives: A Case Study Using Multisource Data in Shenzhen, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-24, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:10:y:2013:i:8:p:3435-3452:d:27773. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.