There's a lot going on in this article, some with which I agree, and some with which I don't. The core argument is that programs promoting wellness, happiness and mindfulness are fruitless and sometimes fraudulent. The part I agree with concerns the deficit narrative - the idea that without these you are somehow incomplete. The part I question most is this: "The first large, randomised-controlled trial of an employee Wellbeing programme suggested they are a waste of money... The bottom line is that there is no bottom line, no return on investment." Here is the study (83 page PDF) published not in a health or education journal, but in The Quarterly Journal of Economics. It also has its own website. It focuses on the first year of a specific program called iThrive employed at a university in Illinois and as such there are many reasons to question it. From where I sit, this is not evidence, even if it's dressed up in evidence clothing. And that is the problem with so much 'research' in our field.
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