Using HBSC data as part of Ireland’s key policy documents: the example of wellbeing

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the importance of understanding wellbeing in childhood and adolescence, and will present Ireland’s efforts to develop a set of national indicators of wellbeing that are published every two year in the State of the Nation’s Children Report. One of the main source of population based indicators of wellbeing in Ireland is the Irish Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC). The HBSC Study in Ireland collects data from 10-18 year olds children since 1998, using a self-completion questionnaire. Data are collected every four years using standardised procedures for sampling and data collection. The same procedures are used since the initiation of the study in Ireland allowing for both cross-country comparison and time trend analysis. As part of the efforts to develop the Irish set of indicators of wellbeing, the HBSC group used a participatory research with children to identify what makes children happy, and the indicators identified by children are now routinely collected. The paper will present these indicators and how they were developed. Most recently, the HBSC study group was asked to develop indicators to the new National Policy framework for children and young people, Better Outcomes Brighter Future, to fill in the gaps in existing knowledge. This further expands the role that the HBSC study in Ireland has in informing policy and in providing data for assessing its success. The paper will present the indicators that are currently used for both national documents, as well as how these were developed.