Conceptualization, Measurement, and Application of Quality of Life for Persons With Intellectual Disabilities: Report of an International Panel of Experts

Abstract

In this article a number of issues involving the concept of quality of life as applied to persons with intellectual disabilities are summarized, and a number of agreed-upon principles regarding its conceptualization, measurement, and application are presented. We realize that the concepts and models presented in this article will vary potentially from country to country, and even from area to area within countries. The cross-cultural understanding of the concept of quality of life is in its infancy, and we hope that the discourses resulting from the material presented in this article will facilitate both cross-cultural understanding and collaborative work. The article reflects current thought about the conceptualization, measurement, and application of this increasingly important and widely used concept in the field of intellectual disabilities and sets the stage for its continuing development.

The Perception of Persons with Anorexia Nervosa on Quality of Life: an Initial Investigation

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“…Studies concerning QOL in the field of intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) started in the late 1980s and 1990s (see Brown, Bayer, & MacFarlane, 1989;Goode, 1994;Renwick, Brown, & Nagler, 1996) and the major themes were pulled together in 2002 (Schalock et al, 2002). FQOL was a development from the earlier field of QOL, and in 2000 a symposium prior to, and in conjunction with, the IASSIDD conference in Seattle summarised the work to date.…”

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