Live Happy Hour

Join us for an afternoon of conversation, connection and a well-earned drink with two of Australia's leading voices in workplace and school wellbeing.

"Rather than a typical comedy or casual bar podcast, this series focuses on mental health, behavioural science, and the 'dual-continua model' of mental wellbeing. They bridge the gap between rigorous scientific research and actionable real-world mental health strategies."

Join Joep and Matthew for an hour-long, interactive Q&A on wellbeing in schools, covering how wellbeing is programmed and resourced, the role of family and community, whether teachers are being asked to carry too much, and what educators actually want from wellbeing providers. Submit your questions in advance via the registration link, or ask live on the day. Q&A is followed by networking drinks and nibbles.

Format: In-person Q&A and conversation · Suitable for: All staff

Topics covered:

Programming wellbeing in schools.
Community wellbeing and the role of families.
Whether teachers are being asked to carry too much, and where the rest of the village has gone.
What teachers actually want from wellbeing organisations and programs.

Ask anything: Please submit your questions for the conversation here.

Cost inclusions:

Entry and light bar snacks.
Drinks are not included.

About the Hosts

Dr Joep van Agteren the CEO of Be Well Co, a social enterprise that grew out of the Wellbeing and Resilience Centre at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), one of the world's top-ranked biomedical research institutes. He also holds an Affiliate Senior Lecturer position at the University of Adelaide's School of Public Health.

Joep's PhD in psychology focused on interventions to help people experiencing languishing. He has spent his career translating that research into practical, real-world tools people can use to feel and function better day to day, and continues to lead evidence-synthesis work on how mental wellbeing and mental illness interact and can be measured together.

He was a co-author, alongside Dr Matthew Iasiello and Professor Mike Kyrios, of one of the largest studies of its kind published in Nature Human Behaviour, a systematic review and meta-analysis of psychological interventions to improve mental wellbeing, later recognised in SAHMRI's "Best of the Best" research series.

Dr Matthew Iasiello leads data and research translation at Be Well Co and holds a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in the School of Biomedicine at the University of Adelaide. He completed a Bachelor of Health Science (Honours) at the University of Adelaide before undertaking his PhD at Flinders University (2023), examining the relationship between mental wellbeing and mental illness through the dual-continua model.

Since joining SAHMRI's Wellbeing and Resilience Centre in 2015, Matthew has helped design, deliver and evaluate mental health and wellbeing programs across a wide range of communities, including at-risk youth, police officers, university students, and older Australians. His current research includes a Delphi consensus study on the core dimensions of positive mental health, and the MyWELL study, co-designing a wellbeing program for people living with multiple myeloma.

Matthew also hosts Researching Happy, a podcast where he talks with wellbeing researchers from around the world, the same rigorous-but-accessible approach he and Joep bring to today's session.

Contact the host of PESA South Australia - Happy Hour Live, with Be Well Co.