| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
Fiscal Year 1995: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1994: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Quality of Life (QOL) is a complex construct that must be defined clearly to be clinically useful. One instrument that captures the varying importance of quality dimensions in a very structured menner is the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index (QLI). A Japanese version of the QLI has been developed, incorporating trends found in previous QOL studies. In the Japanese version, patients are first asked to rate their satisfaction with 35 aspects of life, and then to rate the importance of those same aspects. In this way, scores reflect how satisfied/dissatisfied patients are with the things that matter most to them. The research reported on here, which rests on an application of this instrument in a cross-sectional study, focused on the QOL structures of home care patients and the role of nursing services in supporting QOL.The research was undertaken in connection with the WHO/QOL development study, an international comparative study of QOL.A pilot study resulted in the following findings.
1.The Japanese version of the QLI covers eight of the ten evaluation items presented by Gill, and can be easily used in home care settings to identify problems and evaluate nursing sevices.
2.A cross-sectional study of home care patients shows the rate of satisfaction to be lower than the rate of importance for each and every aspect of QOL.Nursing intervention is required to improve QOL in areas such as usefulness to others, leisure activities, social activities, personal appearance, emotional support, and standard of living.
3.The WHO/QOL pilot study suggests that questionnaires developed by Japanese for use in Japan are not very sensitive, and underscores the fact that the same aspects of life are important for individual QOL in nations and cultures around the world.
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