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Home Health Care Management & Practice
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Educating Clinicians to Assess Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Illness

Fatma Youssef, BN, MPH, DNSc

Marymount University

Rita Wong, EdD, PT

Marymount University

Quality of life (QoL) is a multidimensional construct that communicates an individual’s overall sense of well-being and life satisfaction. Health care practitioner and patient/family agreement on primary contributors to QoL are key to the provision of effective health care. This is particularly important in guiding treatment choices and measuring outcomes in individuals with chronic health conditions. The concept of QoL has changed over time. It encompasses social, cultural, and political factors that affect people’s decisions regarding QoL. Culture is a way of life that shapes the way people make meaning out of illness and suffering. Home care practitioners should strive to be aware of the cultural influences on a client’s health care decision making. The purposes of this article are to (a) describe the dimensions of QoL, (b) discuss cultural influences on QoL, (c) explain common measurement tools used to assess health-related QoL, and (d) provide suggestions to home health practitioners for implementing strategies to foster patient-centered care and outcome assessment that emphasizes QoL.

Key Words: quality of life • quality of life tools/measurements • chronic health conditions • cultural influences on quality of life • health-related quality of life

Home Health Care Management & Practice, Vol. 15, No. 1, 20-26 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/1084822302238106
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