Quality of Life in Older Age: What Older People Say

Abstract

The increasing number of older people, with higher expectations of ‘a good life’ within society and with their high demands for health and social care, has led to international interest in the enhancement, and measurement, of quality of life (QoL) in older age. UK Government policy is also concerned with enabling older people to maintain their independence and active contribution to society and, in effect, to add quality to years of life. QoL has thus become commonly used as an endpoint in the evaluation of public policy (e.g. in the assessment of outcomes of health and social care). This indicates that a multifaceted perspective of QoL is required, with a shift away from single-domain approaches that focus only on single areas of life (e.g. physical health and/or functioning, mental health, social support, life satisfaction, and well-being) towards one that also reflects the views of the population concerned.