2025 Q3 Report

Action for Happiness developed the first version of a new AI-powered system designed to deliver regular wellbeing nudges and personalised responses, supporting users to take positive actions. The system enables the delivery of daily email prompts and tailored follow-up messages, underpinned by extensive internal testing and refinement of large language model prompts to support personalisation using OpenAI’s GPT-5 model.

A test cohort of over 300 users has been recruited and is now actively piloting the system on a daily basis. Baseline data have been collected for all participants, including measures of life satisfaction and GAD-7. Robust safety features have been built into the system, with integration and oversight from Action for Happiness’ Safeguarding team.

This quarter, HLI advanced its research agenda through a combination of academic engagement, policy influence, and original analysis. The team attended the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) conference in Luxembourg, a major international wellbeing conference and organised a dedicated session on wellbeing cost-effectiveness. This event helped to position wellbeing-adjusted cost-effectiveness as a serious and growing area of inquiry within the academic community. 

HLI was invited to provide an update to the UK Treasury’s Green Book on guidelines for wellbeing-based policy appraisal, reflecting growing recognition of their technical expertise and influence in this space. The team also began work on consultancy projects including a new report examining new developments and evidence in Global mental health.

MHLC aims to address a policy-to-practice gap in mental health education in the US. While there is broad recognition of the importance of mental health literacy (MHL) within health and education policy, many educators lack the knowledge and confidence required to implement it effectively in the classroom. As a result, even in jurisdictions where mental health education is mandated, delivery is often inconsistent or absent.

MHLC’s solution is a targeted, one-hour MHL Aware for Educators programme designed to equip educators with the foundational knowledge and confidence needed to teach mental health literacy. The programme focuses on practical, accessible training that can be readily adopted within existing school structures.

To assess immediate outcomes, participants are invited to complete surveys measuring their mental health literacy confidence before and after the training. To date, more than 250 educators have opted into this evaluation, with results showing an average increase of 80% in overall MHL confidence following the session.

Beyond confidence measures, the organisation is collecting qualitative and quantitative data on how the training influences educators’ understanding, perspectives, and actions, both professionally and personally. These insights are being used to inform the development of the second level of the certification pathway, MHL Responsive, which supports teams of school leaders to implement mental health literacy systematically across K–12 schools in the US.

Looking ahead, the organisation plans to undertake further research to assess impact at scale and over time. This longitudinal evaluation is expected to be closely linked to the rollout of MHL Responsive, enabling a clearer understanding of how improved educator confidence translates into sustained implementation and, ultimately, student wellbeing outcomes.

From an organisational perspective, the team adjusted its hiring plans during the quarter to reflect budget considerations and available talent. While the original intention was to recruit a Director of Operations, the organisation instead appointed an Operations Coordinator. This decision ensures continued access to strong operational capacity while maintaining financial prudence and flexibility. During the same period, the organisation’s co-founder, Anita, began her maternity leave following the birth of her daughter—an important and positive milestone for the team.

In addition to core activities, the organisation piloted a small-scale art therapy group as an exploratory initiative. The programme involved facilitated group sessions centred on woodblock engraving, combining creative expression with peer support. While this initiative is not expected to become a core programme, it provided valuable learning and insight into alternative engagement formats. Building on this early experimentation, the organisation has applied for a funding opportunity with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Culture to further test and refine this approach.

SSC has adapted two evidence-based single-session interventions (SSIs) from Project YES, developed by Northwestern University’s Lab for Scalable Mental Health. The first, Project RISE, targets stress related to minority identity, supporting users to develop coping strategies for discrimination and identity-based challenges. The second, Project ABC, focuses on mood management through structured action planning and behavioural activation techniques.

Project RISE is designed to support individuals experiencing stress linked to minority identities, including gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, and religion. To better understand what drives user engagement and impact, the intervention was adapted into multiple experimental variants. These include versions featuring gender-specific imagery, audio guidance, blended media formats, gamified elements, and community features. This approach enables systematic testing of design choices that may enhance engagement and effectiveness at scale.

Project ABC provides users with clear, structured guidance to develop actionable plans for managing low mood, drawing on established behavioural activation principles that encourage concrete action despite low motivation or negative emotions. In contrast to Project RISE, this intervention was implemented with minimal initial adaptation in order to establish baseline effectiveness in the organisation’s context before pursuing further refinements. This approach reflects learning from earlier development efforts, allowing data to guide subsequent investment.

Both interventions apply evidence-based psychological techniques in a highly condensed, single-session format of approximately 30–45 minutes. This stands in contrast to the organisation’s multi-session AFFIRM programme, which spans 11 modules. Testing these shorter formats allows the organisation to assess whether focused, lower-burden interventions can deliver meaningful mental health benefits while significantly reducing the time commitment required from users—an important consideration for scalability and cost-effectiveness. These trials will be tested in the field over the coming months.

The team successfully registered, launched, and operationalised the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Wellbeing Economics, with the World Wellbeing Movement acting as secretariat. The APPG launched with strong cross-party engagement, exceeding its membership target with 22 Parliamentarians (against a goal of 20). Ten Parliamentarians attended the inaugural meeting—double the number required to be quorate—and officers were elected from across Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, alongside a crossbench peer. The APPG is now formally listed on the Parliamentary Register.

A refreshed APPG website was launched and is serving as the group’s primary online hub, supported by a press release to establish early visibility. A strategy meeting with the APPG co-chairs was held in September to set priorities and agree the programme of activity for the first year. Three core themes were identified for upcoming meetings: (1) wellbeing, growth and the public finances; (2) social media; and (3) voting and wellbeing. The first formal APPG meeting following registration is scheduled for October.

Significant groundwork has also been laid to support the APPG’s long-term effectiveness. The team has built a strong working relationship with the APPG Chair’s office, which will be critical to smooth operation and sustained engagement. Learning has been drawn from other successful APPGs and parliamentary groups, including those focused on healthy places, women and enterprise, and wellbeing economics in the Scottish Parliament. In parallel, relationships have been developed with aligned organisations such as Carnegie UK, WEALL and Pro Bono Economics, creating opportunities for future collaboration on meetings, policy outputs and funding applications.