The Gross Developmental Potential (GDP2): a new approach for measuring human potential and wellbeing

Area of Science:

• Child Development
• Public Health
• Socioeconomic Indicators

Background:

• Current measures of development and wellbeing have significant gaps.
• Assessing lifelong health potential and guiding policy requires better evaluation tools.
• Existing metrics like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) focus on economic productivity, not holistic development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce the Gross Developmental Potential (GDP2) framework.
• To propose a capabilities-based approach for assessing threats to thriving and progress in lifelong health and wellbeing.
• To shift focus from economic output to essential developmental capabilities.

Main Methods:

• Literature reviews and expert consultations to develop the framework.
• Vetting the framework through focus groups with community leaders from diverse settings.
• Iterative refinement of capability domains based on community input.

Main Results:

• The Gross Developmental Potential (GDP2) framework was developed, focusing on seven essential developmental capabilities: Health, Needs, Communication, Learning, Adaption, Connections, and Community.
• Community leader input refined the GDP2 domains and their practical applications.
• A prototype GDP2 framework is established for further development.

Conclusions:

• The GDP2 offers a novel, capabilities-based approach to measure and promote lifelong health and wellbeing.
• This framework can guide upstream policies and investments by providing a more holistic measure of societal progress.
• Future work will involve developing specific measures, indices, and community-level dashboards for the GDP2.