Identifying Connections Between the Subjective Experience of Health and Quality of Life in Old Age

Abstract

The importance of qualitative methods in quality of life (QoL) studies is being increasingly recognized. Whereas attention has mainly focused on the exploration of relevant domains, subjective well-being, and representations of health in aging, less consideration has been given to relations among different QoL domains. We aimed in this research to identify connections between subjective health and other relevant domains from the perspective of older adults. We identified four central categories: adaptation to the limits of health in aging; seeking a balance in subjective health and QoL in aging; sense of place in centers for older people; and health and family interrelated dimensions of QoL in old age. According to the participants, the family domain positively impacts health as a consequence of contacts, support, and accomplishments. It might also have a negative impact as a result of a relatives' death or severe disease. The qualitative QoL perspective contributes to capturing the multidimensionality of health, aging, and place.

Components and determinants of quality of life in community-dwelling older adults

“…Bowling (1995) found that the relationships with family and health were the main dimensions of QoL from the individuals' perspective. In the same way, health and family, particularly in relation to partners, children and grandchildren were the central QoL aspects based on grounded theory research (Prieto-Flores et al 2010). Another key dimension reported by the participants was financial status.…”

“…However, its contribution to QoL is variable with discrepancies between health status and QoL: many older adults report a satisfactory QoL despite having several health problems, a finding that may be due to other factors that help to compensate health decline (Fernandez-Mayoralas and Rojo Pérez 2005;Grimby and Svanborg 1997;Grimby and Wiklund 1994;Prieto-Flores et al 2010). In addition, the process of adaptation to health deterioration in old age contributes to the reduction of the relative importance of health in QoL.…”

“…Different studies have contributed to the identification of QoL domains from the perspective of aging people. Health, family, social relationships and finances (Seymour et al 2008), autonomy and attitude toward life (Richard et al 2005), and health of significant others are some of the most relevant dimensions according to older adults' point of view (Bowling 1995;Prieto-Flores et al 2010).…”

The Relative Contribution of Health Status and Quality of Life Domains in Subjective Health in Old Age

“…Among these, there was evidence of the importance of physical functioning (Azpiazu et al 2002;Bowling et al 1993;Smith et al 2002), neighborhood (Bowling et al 2002), satisfaction with health (Michalos et al 2003), age (Smith et al 2002), finances (Michalos et al 2003;Smith et al 2002), social activities (Smith et al 2002), spare time (Guallar-Castillón et al 2005), and family (Farquhar 1995;Prieto-Flores et al 2010).…”

Older people and their strategies for coping with health risks

“…Pomembna ugotovitev poglobljenega kvalitativnega dela raziskave je, da se tveganja med seboj izrazito povezujejo in da za posameznika postanejo neobvladljiv problem, ko se začnejo prekrivati in medsebojno krepiti. Podobno kot ugotavljajo drugi avtorji, tudi iz naših analiz sledi, da so temeljna in za starejše najbolj pereča tista tveganja, ki ogrožajo njihovo avtonomnost in vodijo v odvisnost (24)(25)(26)(27). Pomen neodvisnosti in samostojnosti je v literaturi pogosto omenjen in v splošnem prepoznan kot pomemben.…”