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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Quality of life: what, how why?
— the view of healthcare professionals | | Author(s) | Christopher McKevitt, Charles Wolfe |
| Journal title | Quality in Ageing, vol 3, no 1, March 2002 |
| Pages | pp 13-19 |
| Keywords | Stroke ; Medical care ; Quality of life ; Attitude ; Medical workers ; Qualitative Studies. |
| Annotation | Although "quality of life" is thought to be an important concept in healthcare, there is a lack of agreement about what this term means. This paper arises from a study which made the idea of quality of life itself the object of enquiry. The authors report findings from qualitative interviews with 47 healthcare professionals working with stroke and elderly care patients, which sought their views on the meaning and uses of quality of life. Poor health and disability were assumed to reduce quality of life; interviewees represented their work as aiming to improve patient quality of life through improved health. Most regarded formal quality of life measurement as a research tool, but not feasible or appropriate in routine care. Although the real value of the quality of life concept remains unproven, the authors suggest that in the context of their interviews, it was used by professionals to reflect on the nature of the therapeutic encounter, and to articulate ideas about healthcare practice. The article also presents preliminary findings of a project in the ESRC's Growing Older Programme. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020418209 A |
| Classmark | CQA: LK: F:59: DP: QT: 3DP |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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