Hi all,
I'm currently canvassing the literature for widely used theory-based models of Quality of Life, and was wondering which ones the community generally feels have the best practical utility and empiricial evidence base. I have also been looking at domain-based frameworks such as the PERMA+ model, but would like to cast a wider net. Global, health specific, population specific--I'm Interested in them all :)
Cheers everyone!
When you find your specific meaning or purpose in life you experience its quality in every hard circumstance:
Dear Joshua Trigg, your question is a contradictio in adiecto, a contradiction in line of argumentation. You are looking for the best model with the best evidence, which covers all facets of the area, at best. However, since it is very difficult to define life itself and to put it in a model, it is also a challenge to define quality of life. We only can and have to focus on certain aspects, which we then justify and define from our research interests. A second aspect is, what do you mean by 'established evidence base'? Are these the models that have the best theoretical foundations or those ones that are most frequently cited and studied? Evidence does not always come from the amount of data / information available, and nowadays study results are not used to further develop theories. I think, the best models would be highly complex theories, but these are not always those that are generally accepted. And not all generally accepted models are based on scientific evidence. Many popular models are based on popular science. Finally, I would be interested, in the context of which project you asked this question. Are you initially looking for references for a current project or are you interested in a scientific and philosophical discussion? Kind regards
S. Béatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist Thank you for the references, they're very much appreciated! Michael Krichbaum Thank you for the perspective. At this stage I'm not seeking a global model/theory/argument that attempts to span all potential facets of quality in life (though I posed general question). Rather, I'm just after some examples the have been used in the context of individual health and recovery from illness. Still quite broad, I know, but this is in reference to the early stages of a project. If you know of any names/depts worth exploring, irrespective of evidence type, I'd love to know. Cheers, Josh
In my work, health related quality of life (HRQoL) plays an importend role. But mostly from a practical than from a theoretical perspective. How can I measure HRQoL in people with chronic medical conditiions? Which are valid and reliable instruments? For theory, I prefer some handbooks from publishing house Springer Nature, who also has some important journals on Quality of Life.
- https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319755281 - Handbook of Leisure, Physical Activity, Sports, Recreation and Quality of Life (2018)
- https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319391007 - The Pursuit of Human Well-Being (2017)
- https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789402408768 - Handbook of Community Well-Being Research (2017)
- https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789401791779 - Global Handbook of Quality of Life (2015)
- https://www.springer.com/de/book/9789400707528 - Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research (2014)
Please, see the integrative quality-of-life theory . A good review of this theory is posted here in ResearchGate. Here is the link: Article Quality of Life Theory I. The IQOL Theory: An Integrative Th...
Dear Joshua Trigg
You may check Social Stress Theory. According to Social Stress Theory, stress led to poor psychological wellbeing and adversely affected physical wellbeing. Burnout was one of the stressors that reflected social stress. In other words, burnout was one of the occupational hazards that might provoke social stress. The HRQoL factor was an endpoint to reflect personal perceptions of general wellbeing. Wan (1982) empirically examined these causal links.
Please check the following link for more information under the theoretical framework of the study
Article The Impact of Mobbing and Job-Related Stress on Burnout and ...
Defining the "Quality of life" is extremely complex, both from a philosophical point of view and in relation to the field (health, economy, society, ...) and to the age group that we want to investigate. The complexity arises from the conceptual divergences and from the heterogeneity of the methodologies and indicators chosen to measure the QoL.
Furthermore, the idea of quality of life has changed over the decades. Initially, in line with the definition of health as complete well-being provided by the WHO in 1946, the health model prevailed with indicators aimed primarily at measuring the quality of health and an interest in psychological aspects and the self-subjective perception.
This approach has been declined in many health-related studies and models. However, the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being represents an unrealistic goal, especially for the weakest and most needy of intervention, such as the elderly and the disabled (Borthwick-Duffy, 1992), and is difficult to translate it at an operational level (Flanagan, 1982). We can say that the definition from the WHO of health is a non-scientific concept (in an experimental sense of science) and purely philosophical, completely comparable to that of happiness (Monteleone 2001).
To date, there is no unanimity on the concept of quality of life, which continues to represent a very important and complex area of study.
Personally, in the two-month period May-June 2014, I conducted a pilot research on the quality of life subjectively perceived by nursing homes guests and their families. On the basis of a semi-structured questionnaire, a panel of guests and family members (which was quantitatively representative of the reference sample) was asked to express a comparative assessment relating to two moments of life: the last quarter spent at home before their institutionalization and the current quarter of life in RSA.
The research questions that guided the survey aimed to explore both the explicit awareness of perceived quality and the implicit one, in the four main dimensions in which the quality construct (biological, psychological, social, spiritual) has been broken down. The results of the survey have provided many important information on the experience of guests and their families, on what are the needs identified by them as primary, on services that contribute positively to the quality of life perceived and on those that - on the contrary - are not contemplated and valued, on the comparison between expectations and priorities of the guest with respect to those expressed by the family members.
This definition emerged from the work: "the quality of life expresses the level of satisfaction with which a person accepts and appreciates his existential moment and the current circumstances in which he lives, regardless of the habitat and health conditions".
To those who wish, I can send the questionnaire (in Italian) used in the survey.
The entire investigation is reported in the book: A. Monteleone "Non autosufficienza e qualità della vita " (Non self-sufficiency condition and quality of life), Maggioli Editor 2015.
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