Quality of life: how can it be measured?
Many government policies regarding elderly people are intended to maintain and improve the quality of their lives. But quality of life is a vague term that means different things to different people, and yet we must measure it accurately if we are to see whether the policies are working.
There are several useful ways to measure quality of life, including a questionnaire devised by the World Health Organisation. A team of academics has now devised a broader and more comprehensive system, and is setting out to check if it is as useful as they hope.
The team has created a questionnaire that is more extensive and wide ranging than others, after having talked to many older people and asked them what makes them feel happier and more secure. The resulting survey more directly reflects older people's varied concerns than before.
"By carrying out interviews with many older people, it was found that they define good quality of life in many different ways," said Professor Paul Stenner of the School of Applied Social Science.
"For instance, some may be family-centred and define their quality of life by talking about how members of their family relate to one another."
"Some may value their independence from others and not being dependent on them for emotional support. Others may see quality of life in their relationship with their god and within their church, if they are religious."
"So, for instance, not having close family ties might make some people lonely but make others feel freer, so each factor has a different meaning for a different type of person, and a questionnaire needs to be flexible enough to reflect this subjectivity."
Professor Stenner is now working to see how valid the new questionnaire is by interviewing some older people in-depth, and seeing how accurately the completed questionnaire reflects their quality of life. He is part of an interdisciplinary team of academics from a number of institutions, including Oxford and University College London.
Using a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council, he is also developing a new way to establish the importance of different forms of activity in older people's lives, including mental, physical and social activities. This is so that government can determine the best way to encourage active ageing and improved quality of life.
Find out more
Visit the School of Applied Social Science website.
