The quality of life is a way to measure how well someone is doing compared to someone who is in perfect physical, social, and mental health (Shephard, 2019) . People are living longer these days, but there are concerns that the extra years may not be enjoyable because of health problems.
In the past, quality of life was described using one word or a single number, but now we know it’s more complicated. It depends on how people feel about their health, what they can do physically, and their mood. It’s also influenced by their surroundings, like how many friends they have and if they have help with daily tasks.
Researchers have come up with different ways to measure quality of life. One way is to rate things like mobility, physical ability, social activity, and symptoms on a scale (Kaplan, 1985). Others have used long questionnaires (Bergner et al., 1981) or compared the desirability of a shorter period of good quality of life to a longer life with the current quality (Guyatt et al., 1989).
Regular exercise is really important for older adults to improve their quality of life. It helps with physical abilities and being able to do things on their own. Group activities are also good because they give seniors a chance to be social. Exercise can also reduce the risk of health problems, improve mood, and slow down mental decline that happens with age.
Bergner, M., Bobbitt, R., Carter, W., & Gilson, B. S. (1981). The sickness impact profile. Development and final revision of a health status measure. Medical Care, 19, 287-285.
Guyatt, G. H., Dego, R. A., Charlsoin, M., Levine, M. N., & Mitchell, A. (1989). Responsiveness and validity in health status measurement: A clarification. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 42, 403 408.
Kaplan, R. M. (1985). Quantification of health outcomes for policy studies in behavioral epidemiology. In R. M. Kaplan, & M. Criqui (Eds.), Behavioral epidemiology and disease prevention (pp. 31 54). New York, NY: Plenum Press.