Paper
Thursday, 20 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Outcomes Measurement
Development of a Comparative Quality of Life Outcome Measure for the Elderly
Carol J. Leppa, PhD, Nursing Program, University of Washington, Bothell, Bothell, WY, USA
Learning Objective #1: Identify domains measured by the adapted Comparative Quality of Life instrument.
Learning Objective #2: State three applications for research and practice in Nursing Home or Long Term Care environments.
The aging of the U.S. population and increasing demand for nursing home and assisted living facilities is well documented.  This phenomenon is not limited to the U.S. as medical and health care advances have increased the longevity of people around the world.  There are a variety of living facilities and care delivery programs for the elderly in many countries ranging from independent community assisted, congregate housing, to assisted-living, adult family homes and skilled care nursing homes.  While nursing care has often been carefully evaluated and monitored in these settings, the quality of life of elders in varied environments and programs has not been studied from their perspective.  Comparing facilities and programs within and across cultures is an additional challenge.  The World Health Organization (WHO) developed a Quality of Life (QOL) questionnaire in parallel forms in 16 countries.  The 100-item original (WHOQOL) and 26-item brief (WHOQOL-BREF) is designed for general populations and measures the physical, environmental, psychological, social, and spiritual domains.  Lawton’s Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale (PGMS) is a well tested measure of the domains of agitation, attitudes toward aging, and lonely dissatisfaction – important elements not captured in the general quality of life measures of the WHO instruments.  This US-based instrument has been adapted for use in other cultures.  This session reports on the development and testing of an adapted instrument that incorporates the adapted WHOQOL-BREF, and the PGMS to create a reliable and valid measure of self-reported quality of life outcomes in elders that can be used to assess and compare elders experiences and outcomes across living settings, care delivery programs, and countries.  The potential for use within a facility, across types of facilities, and across cultures will be presented with specific reference to a comparison project that links the United States, the United Kingdom and Taiwan.

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See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)