Wellbeing, health and geography: A critical review and research agenda

Abstract:  This paper explores different conceptual and policy spaces of wellbeing. The increasing use of wellbeing in contemporary health debates affords geographers of health new arena in which to explore the processes that promote, remedy or regenerate health and ill-health. The paper first critically reviews the theoretical approaches and challenges for operationalizing the concept of wellbeing in both research and policy. We then present a framework of the spaces of wellbeing to provoke discussion and research amongst geographers of health. The paper concludes with proposals for future research orientations.