Podium Presentation 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

City Wide Wellbeing Intervention Involving MAPP Grads And Mayor, City Manager, Board Of Education, And More (#247)

Louis Alloro 1 , Jackie Gaffaney 1 , Kathy Snyder 1 , Kathryn Wessling 1
  1. Claremont Graduate University, Pomona, CA, United States

In 2018, Midland, Michigan trained 40 city leaders in applied positive psychology. Taking a systems-informed approach, the goal was to impact the entire ecosystem: individual residents, their neighborhoods, organizations, & the entire community. We used the CAPP program as intervention, is a six month 200 hour training program based on the PERMA-V model offered by The Flourishing Center. Participants gained knowledge, theory, & research-based tools to utilize positive psychology personally & professionally. With the larger goal of impacting neighborhoods & communities, the instructors included lessons in systems theories and design thinking. Supported by funders to offset participant costs, 37 Midland County residents participated in CAPP--including the mayor, city manager, president of the Midland Public Schools board of education, teachers and administrators, the head of the Boys/Girls Club, United Way, behavioral health system & many benefit sector organizations specializing in youth development, economic development, trauma, recovery from addiction, disability, corrections, poverty, and more. The class also included the head of sustainability, wellness, and chief medical officer, respectively, for Dow Dupont, the county’s largest employer. Symposium will discuss individual, community, & systems wide outcomes, including the development of a wellbeing index and lessons learned.