An integrative approach to quality of life measurement, research, and policy

Abstract

While Quality of Life (QOL) has long been an explicit or implicit policy goal, adequate definition and measurement have been elusive. Diverse "objective" and "subjective" indicators across a range of disciplines and scales, and recent work on subjective well-being (SWB) surveys and the psychology of happiness have spurred renewed interest. Drawing from multiple disciplines, we present an integrative definition of QOL that combines measures of human needs with subjective well-being or happiness. QOL is proposed as a multiscale, multi-dimensional concept that contains interacting objective and subjective elements. We relate QOL to the opportunities that are provided to meet human needs in the forms of built, human, social and natural capital (in addition to time) and the policy options that are available to enhance these opportunities. Issues related to defining, measuring, and scaling these concepts are discussed, and a research agenda is elaborated. Policy implications include strategies for investing in opportunities to maximize QOL enhancement at the individual, community, and national scales.

A study on demographic factors affecting quality of life among HIV positive individuals attending a district anti retroviral treatment centre in Mangalore

“…2 Some studies have discussed that enhancing QOL has long been a major explicit or implicit life-style and policy goal for individuals, communities, nations, and the world. 3 There are two measures of quality of life: one being the objective wellbeing and the other subjective wellbeing. Objective measures include indices of economic production, literacy rates, life expectancy, and other data that can be gathered without directly surveying the individuals being assessed.…”

Monetary and Fiscal Policies for a Finite Planet

“…On a finite planet, this goal would require a steady-state economy that offers meaningful employment to all with an equitable distribution of resources among humans and between humans and other species. Rather than an obsessive focus on built capital and material consumption, this goal would require balanced investments across natural, human, social and built capitals, all of which make critical contributions to the quality of life [26]. Recession would be redefined as unacceptable or increasing rates of poverty, misery, inequality and unemployment, or unsustainable levels of throughput that must inevitably lead to such problems in the future.…”

Notes on the Quality of Life of Artisanal Small-Scale Fishermen along the Pacific Coast of Jalisco, México

“…The difference between the use of QOL-wellbeing approaches and sustainability is that while QOL and well-being are related to the present, sustainability usually refers to future states [11]. The literature relating sustainability [13], wellbeing and quality of life indicators has increased significantly in the last decade, and most of the studies attempt to quantify and qualify these concepts; however, there is not widespread agreement about the significance of the work to help policymaking [14]. Even so, the concept of QOL has been used as a multipurpose indicator of sustainable development [15] and is closely linked to other indicators such as happiness and contentment.…”

“…Some researchers have proposed that objective dimensions of wellbeing related to its social, economic and health dimensions provide little or no information about the QOL of individuals [14,[16][17][18], so most research has focused on subjective components of QOL. Although there is a lack of universal agreement about theory or procedure to measure QOL [17,19], research reveals that health, wellbeing, ratings of quality of QOL, life satisfaction and satisfaction with environmental quality of life are core elements of QOL.…”