Dr. Sameh Eltaybani, PhD, Project Senior Lecturer in Global Nursing Research Center
Quality of life (QoL) is individuals’ perceptions of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns. It is a key component in evaluating the care provided to older people. Although the assessment of QoL is ideally self-rated, other people may be asked to respond on behalf of the patients himself or herself (that is, proxy-rated QoL). This situation is common when older people lack the capacity of self-reporting, such as in case of people with dementia. For many reasons, this proxy rating might mislead the interpretation of QoL of older people. Therefore, Dr. Eltaybani and colleagues conducted a study to evaluate the reliability and feasibility of using newly developed self-reported QoL items for older adults receiving home care services. The newly developed items capture the essential aspects of older people’s lives and were found to be reliable and feasible for use by older people, including those with terminal conditions, dementia, and a high degree of dependency.
Access the full paper here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39876615/