How a wellbeing economy approach can promote health equality for future generations

Prevention Works

In this episode, Dr Katherine Trebeck takes listeners into a deep conversation asking why our economy is not serving enough people and takes a hard look at the way our economic system operates through a public health lens.

Katherine is a political economist, founder of the Wellbeing Economic Alliance, and describes herself as a freelance advocate for a more humane economy.

Katherine casts a net of ideas around the distribution, or maldistribution, of wealth, resources, and power and how this impacts individuals, communities, and the planet, with a profound impact on health inequalities. Despite these flaws, there are opportunities for connection across areas that have traditionally been siloed and a move toward a wellbeing approach, one designed to deliver what people and the planet need. For example, improved levels of exercise and mental health have connections with improved liveability and public transport, and these arenas have co-benefits for us as humans living in the environment, so co-benefits for the environment as well.

With a fascination for understanding the root causes of complex issues, Katherine compels audiences to look upstream and stay curious and attentive to the connections. She recommends channeling your inner three-year-old, asking but why, but why, why, and why, until we can get to the root cause, venturing beyond symptom-by-symptom, problem-by-problem, and crisis-to-crisis solutions.