Table 1.

A Summary and Overview of the GENIAL Framework (Kemp et al, 2018; fisher et al, 2019; mead et al, 2019, 2021), Emphasising a Multi-Levelled Approach to Promote Individual, community and Planetary Wellbeing.

Core Domains	Focus	Context
Overview	Wellbeing is defined from a biopsychosocial ecological perspective, emphasising connectedness to self, others and nature, which may reflect a basic psychological need, supported by vagal function, a psychophysiological resource for connection. Individual wellbeing provides strong foundations for collective and planetary wellbeing, consistent with social ecological theory and systems thinking	Wellbeing is a ‘wicked problem’ associated with a host of challenges (e.g. conceptual; knowledge; implementation). The GENIAL model provides an overarching theoretical framework within which other theories are introduced. A driving motivation for developing the GENIAL model is a pressing need to overcome various interrelated scientific and societal challenges concerning the ‘wicked problem’ of wellbeing
Connecting to the self (the individual domain)	Capacity for individual positive change is highlighted with focus on a ‘balanced mind’ and ‘healthy bodies’. GENIAL emphasises the importance of both positive emotions and negative emotions for wellbeing and behaviour change. Key concepts include hedonia, eudaimonia and Martin Seligman’s integrative PERMA theory including positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement. Evidence linking psychological wellbeing to physical health is especially relevant. Positive health behaviours (e.g. healthy diet, physical activity, sleep quality) are introduced as major determinants of wellbeing. The vagus nerve is introduced as a structural link between mental and physical health (informed by the neurovisceral integration and polyvagal theories), representing a psychophysiological basis for self-connection	A focus on individual wellbeing is essential for collective and planetary wellbeing. Central to the GENIAL model is the role of the vagus nerve as the structural link between physical and mental health. This model serves to challenge the mismatch between the scientific evidence and the dogma of body/mind dualism, which can lead to siloed thinking, narratives that attenuate health-sustaining behaviours and missed opportunities for more effective interventions. The GENIAL model also provides a theoretical foundation on which more effective interventions can be built in keeping with a ‘whole health’ approach (see table 2 for examples of our recently developed interventions based on GENIAL). This work challenges misconceptions about wellbeing which is often construed as the absence of impairment, a perspective that constrains healthcare solutions. Major societal challenges relevant to this domain include the increasing burden of chronic disease
Connecting to others (the community domain)	Emphasis on social ties and relationships as a pathway to health and wellbeing, highlighting ‘relatedness’ as a basic psychological need. Self-determination and self-identity theory are key influences. Polyvagal theory provides a biopsychosocial framework for relatedness. Links between positive social relationships, physical health and longevity are especially relevant to this domain, as are the social determinants of health. Focus extends beyond personal relationships to include concepts such as social trust, social capital, social cohesion and social identity. An upward spiral relationship between positive emotions, perceived social connections and vagal function lays biopsychosocial foundations for social identity and collective wellbeing. Although constrained by sociostructural factors (see below), our framework encourages reflection on opportunities to overcome such constraints	The GENIAL framework outlines key determinants of wellbeing at multiple levels of scale and provides a framework to better integrate knowledge and practice across different levels of scale. Take, for example, the community and individual level. The role of the community is often under-appreciated by those tasked with supporting individuals to improve their wellbeing and social ties are often neglected in health and wellbeing interventions. Likewise, the health enhancing role of community lays beyond the control of individuals, and improving community wellbeing will require collaborative efforts and working across institutions. This insight is especially important given evidence that ‘community’ is deteriorating. Our work shows how gaps can be bridged across health services and community partners to reduce barriers for people who find it difficult to access the community independently and who often become marginalised. Major societal challenges relevant to this domain include inequalities and inequities as well as community deterioration, which leads to social isolation and loneliness
Connecting to nature (the environment domain)	Focus on nature connectedness and wellbeing. Connection to nature arguably provides a basic psychological need. Key theories include relate to biophilia, stress reduction and attention restoration. Positive (e.g. biophilia) and negative (e.g. solastalgia) earth emotions connect individuals to the environment. This domain also encompasses existential positive psychology (e.g. meaning in life), climate psychology (e.g. how to cope with difficult emotions associated with the climate challenge) and the new concept of ‘planetary wellbeing’, argued to be the ‘highest attainable standard of wellbeing’. Role of nature in promoting human wellbeing is also explored within the context of the climate catastrophe	The GENIAL framework outlines key determinants of wellbeing at multiple levels of scale and provides a framework to better integrate knowledge and practice across the different levels leading to more sophisticated (less siloed) theoretical insights and innovation in practice. Take, for example, the individual and the environment level. Humans have become increasingly disconnected from nature and connecting the individual to nature has been shown to reduce all-cause mortality. The promotion of nature connectedness via interventions or physical infrastructure is often neglected, however. GENIAL also addresses ethical considerations relating to harnessing natural environments to promote wellbeing while planetary wellbeing, which impacts the wellbeing of individuals and their communities. Recent findings have emphasised a role for nature connectedness in the promotion of pro-environmental behaviours in addition to wellbeing, laying key foundations for reflecting on how wellbeing might be improved while also contributing to wider efforts to manage major societal issues including the complex inter-related issues associated with climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental degradation
Positive change	Behaviour extending to societal change. Components of successful behaviour change including motive, willpower, habit, resources, environmental and social influences. Self-determination theory and satisfaction of basic psychological needs. Multi-levelled societal change within individual, community and environment domains. Emphasis is placed on the vast capacity for individual change drawing on behaviour change and goal setting theories, despite societal challenges and sociostructural constraints, which individual actions (e.g. volunteering, activism) may help to tackle. Population-wide societal change through, for example, ‘psychological boosting’ emphasises a capability approach to building societal wellbeing through, for example, education, health, capacity building and wellbeing public policy	The GENIAL framework includes behaviour change as one of its core domains appreciating the inherent disconnect between what people know and what people actually do. The intention-behaviour gap is a major barrier to translating evidence into sustained practice. Nonetheless, institutions concerned with health and wellbeing continue to engage in ‘information providing campaigns’ to inform behaviour change which are often ineffective. GENIAL deals with efforts to change behaviours at multiple levels of scale drawing from behavioural change theory thereby presenting a framework which identifies core determinants of wellbeing at multiple levels of scale as well as identifying factors and evidence-based strategies that lead to sustainable behaviour change and thereby reduce the intention-behaviour gap. Models of systems change (e.g. nonviolent civil disobedience; the transition movement; flatpack democracy) are also relevant to this section, as well as a focus on complexity theory
Sociostructural and contextual factors	Wellbeing is embedded within, constrained and facilitated by a range of factors (e.g. social, political, economic) and contexts (culture and historical). Consideration of sociostructural factors arising across individual (e.g. health, education, affordable housing), community (e.g. societal concerns for human rights, justice and democracy) and environment (e.g. Earth’s natural systems) domains provide a foundation for a cultural shift towards positive change. Focus includes consideration of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG’s)	While sociostructural factors constrain wellbeing, there is tremendous capacity for individuals, organisations and communities to contribute to collaborative efforts to ameliorate those constraints. The GENIAL model encourages reflection of factors that determine health and wellbeing beyond the control of individuals calling for a multiple pronged approach to support whole health in order to mitigate major societal challenges. We have described ways in which we have sought to reduce inequity caused by ‘disability’ and financial constraints in table 2. For example, clinicians and academics working to increase access to green and blue spaces for people with chronic conditions by reducing barriers to access as a function of disability or financial constraints. Major societal challenges relevant to this domain include inequalities and inequities