Centre on Well-being, Inclusion, Sustainability and Equal Opportunity (WISE)
Measuring Population Mental Health
Good mental health is a vital part of people’s well-being, and the COVID-19 pandemic
brought renewed attention to its importance. However, discussions so far have not
focused sufficiently on how governments should best monitor it at the broader population
level, and on how to consider both mental ill-health and positive mental states. This
report supports national statistical offices and other data producers in collecting
high-quality measures of population mental health outcomes in a more frequent, consistent
and internationally harmonised manner. It documents existing measurement practice
across OECD countries, discusses the advantages and limitations of available measurement
tools, and recommends priority measures to adopt in household, social and health surveys.
Measuring Population Mental Health is the first of two reports as part of an assessment
of mental health and well-being in the context of the OECD's work on measuring well-being.