Search

This paper presents findings from a national survey of quality of life (QoL) in older age. The main aim of the analyses was to examine the definitions of quality of life given by people aged 65 or more years and the underlying reasons. Open-ended questions were used to elicit their perceptions of QoL. These were followed by structured measures of self-rated QoL overall, and of domains of QoL commonly reported in the literature. The main things said by the respondents to give their lives quality were categorised into 'themes'. These were: social relationships; social roles and activities; leisure activities enjoyed alone; health; psychological outlook and wellbeing; home and neighbourhood; financial circumstances; and independence. The reasons people gave to explain why these things were important to their QoL focused on: the freedom to do the things they wanted to do without restriction (whether in the home or socially); pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction with life; mental harmony; social attachment and having access to companionship, intimacy, love, social contact and involvement, help; social roles; and feeling secure. This paper also presents data that demonstrates the ability of theoretically informed, structured survey indicators of QoL to predict respondents' self-rated overall QoL. Logistic regression analyses showed that most of these indicators were strong, independent predictors of self-ratings of QoL, although those that were not significant in the model did not fully incorporate lay reasons of QoL in their measurement scales. In conclusion, the indicators which were not significant in the model did not fully incorporate lay values in their measurement properties. It is also likely that those indicators that were significant could have been improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronological age can be an unsatisfactory method of discriminating between older people. The lay concept of how old people actually feel may be more useful. The aim of the analyses reported in this paper was to investigate indicators of age-identity (or subjective age) among a national random sample of people aged 65 or more years living at home in Britain. Information was initially collected by home interview and a follow-up postal questionnaire 12–18 months later. The age that respondents felt was a more sensitive indicator than chronological age of many indicators of the respondents' health, psychological and social characteristics. Multiple regression analysis showed that baseline health and functional status, and reported changes in these at follow-up, explained 20.4 per cent of the variance in self-perceived age. Adding baseline mental health (anxiety/depression), feelings and fears about ageing at follow-up explained a further 0.8 per cent of the variance, making the total variance explained 21.2 per cent. It is concluded that measures of physical health and functional status and their interactions influenced age-identity. Mental health status and psychological perceptions made a small but significant additional contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper report results from a national survey of quality of life (QoL), based on 999 people aged 65 or more years living in private households in Britain. The study produced both qualitative and quantitative interview data. The 999 survey respondents were interviewed in their own homes with a semi-structured survey instrument, and 80 were followed-up in greater depth at one and two years after the baseline interview. The material from the in-depth interviews is presented here. The main QoL themes that emerged were: having good social relationships, help and support; living in a home and neighbourhood that is perceived to give pleasure, feels safe, is neighbourly and has access to local facilities and services including transport; engaging in hobbies and leisure activities (solo) as well as maintaining social activities and retaining a role in society; having a positive psychological outlook and acceptance of circumstances which cannot be changed; having good health and mobility; and having enough money to meet basic needs, to participate in society, to enjoy life and to retain one's independence and control over life. The results have implications for public policy, and supplement the growing body of knowledge on the composition and measurement of quality of life in older age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]