The Happy Life Club is an evidence-based coach-driven method of delivering effective interventions to people with chronic illness to enable them to better manage their conditions. This addresses the needs of what WHO has termed a “slow motion disaster” and “tsunami” of chronic illness globally. Seventy per cent of global deaths are currently a result of chronic illness with the figure in Australia being approximately 90%.

 

The Happy Life Club was initiated in Australia but has been widely implemented in China where it has been the subject of many quantitative and associated qualitative studies including a large RCT in Beijing with satellite studies in Nanjing and Shenzhen. Economic evaluation of the Club indicates a net benefit of AUD 12,000 per annum.

 

This presentation explores the Club design and its outcomes. The Club is currently the subject of a major Australian development with satellite initiatives in China and the UAE where it is being converted to digital delivery. In behaviour change and chronic illness programs there is now an abundance of “apps” that utilize technology such as wearable technology and smart phones and mobile devices to assist with the self-management of chronic illness. Unfortunately, many of these tools have been seriously hampered by an absence of a sound knowledge base in behaviour change research and a lack of appropriate clinical supervision.