Bethnal Green based social innovation hub The Young Foundation has released a new report surveying unmet need in Britain.  It identifies the ten most commonly unmet psychological needs which it argues were largely ignored during the 20th century,  amongst these are self-esteem, autonomy, relatedness and meaning or self-actualisation.   That psychological need underpins wellbeing is a key message of the study and an essential rationale behind The Good Gym:  By helping to meet the psychological needs of isolated older people (a group that the study confirms as amongst the most vulnerable to unmet needs) we aim to bolster the ability for members to satisfy their own material needs.  I hope the study, which contains a carefully balanced mixture of relevant quantitative information and sensitively written case-studies reminiscent of Michael Young’s work,  acts as a starting point for an approach to government and third sector services that addresses psychological need as an integral part of provision.

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