Observational Study of Quality of Life in NHS Nursing Homes and a Long-stay Ward for the Elderly

Abstract

An observational study was carried out in order to measure the quality of life of elderly people in two different types of long-stay care (two NHS nursing homes and a hospital ward). This formed part of a wider evaluation study of these two forms of institutional care. Qualitative techniques provided insights into the behaviours, moods, interactions and atmospheres in the settings, which were difficult to measure using traditional survey approaches. The observational study showed that it is.essential not to rely solely on interview material, and assessments of mental and physical functioning, when evaluating long-stay care. Characteristics of ‘total institutions’ clearly emerged from the analyses of the hospital ward, although the inclusion of the hospital patients' Club in the study revealed that these need not be inevitable, and that both the ward and the homes could be improved if modelled on the more autonomous and flexible philosophy of the Club.

The Perceived Role of ICTs in Quality of Life in Three Chinese Cities

“…Studies have found that QoL is related to home life and family relationships (Aureli and Baldazzi 2002;Farquhar 1995;Hall 1976), health (Clark and Bowling 1989;Farquhar 1994Farquhar , 1995Hall 1976;Michalos et al 2000Michalos et al , 2001, economic resources (Arnold 1991;Aureli and Baldazzi 2002;Lundberg and Thorslund 1996;Shek 2005), community involvement and social support network (Hughes 1993;Schalock et al 1989), gourmet cooking and buying works of art (Michalos 2005), etc. Few studies, however, have been done on the role of ICTs in QoL.…”

Quality of Life in Older Adults: Benefits from Caring Services in Hong Kong

“…Similarly, the work domain corresponds to the employment domain (Lundberg and Thorslund, 1996). The accommodation corresponds to the housing, residential, security, environment, home, material, and privacy domains (Clark and Bowling, 1989;Norcross, 1990;Pynoos and Regnier, 1991;Hughes, 1993;Farquhar, 1994;Lundberg and Thorslund, 1996;Chan et al, 2002). The finance domain corresponds to the economic resource, and property domains (Arnold, 1991;Lundberg and Thorslund, 1996).…”

“…The friendship domain corresponds to community relationship, community involvement, support network, social functioning, social contact, and interpersonal relation domains (Schalock et al, 1989;Norcross, 1990;Arnold, 1991;Hughes, 1993;Farquhar, 1994;Stewart and King, 1994;Chan et al, 2002). The health domain corresponds to the health, nutrition, functioning, comfort, pain, energy, independence, symptom, ability, and mobility domains (Clark and Bowling, 1989;Norcross, 1990;Arnold, 1991;Kutner et al, 1992;Hughes, 1993;Farquhar, 1994;Stewart and King, 1994;Lundberg and Thorslund, 1996;Chan et al, 2002). The self-domain corresponds to the self, happiness, mental health, psychological well-being, and emotional functioning domains (Clark and Bowling, 1989;Arnold, 1991;Kutner et al, 1992;Hughes, 1993;Farquhar, 1994;Stewart and King, 1994).…”

“…The health domain corresponds to the health, nutrition, functioning, comfort, pain, energy, independence, symptom, ability, and mobility domains (Clark and Bowling, 1989;Norcross, 1990;Arnold, 1991;Kutner et al, 1992;Hughes, 1993;Farquhar, 1994;Stewart and King, 1994;Lundberg and Thorslund, 1996;Chan et al, 2002). The self-domain corresponds to the self, happiness, mental health, psychological well-being, and emotional functioning domains (Clark and Bowling, 1989;Arnold, 1991;Kutner et al, 1992;Hughes, 1993;Farquhar, 1994;Stewart and King, 1994). The family domain corresponds to the family and family relationship domains (Hughes, 1993;Farquhar, 1994;Lundberg and Thorslund, 1996).…”

Quality of institutional life

“…This usually involves some combination of in-depth interviews with residents, staff, and others who visit the setting on a less regular basis such as relatives and other professionals coupled with observation of the setting over a sufficient period of time to cover both the daily/weekly routine. Different forms of observation have been developed from the straightforward participant observer 34 to the more exacting timed observation. 35 Such a multimethod approach to research is bound to have its difficulties, for it means acknowledging a wide range of group interests, unequal power relations and varied definitions of what constitutes successful service provision and quality.…”