Do I have quality of life? How do I know if I have quality of life? How much quality do I have? Do I have a right to have quality of life? Will we always have quality of life? Are there different types of quality of life and are they equally effective or valuable. These are important questions to explore and to understand.
The WHO Definition
The WHO defines it as follows: Quality of life (QOL) is “an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.”
Standard indicators of the quality of life include
wealth, employment, the environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, social belonging, religious beliefs, safety, security and freedom.
You perceive your quality of life. So two people might have identical circumstances and one could consider herself having great quality of life, where as the other persons thinks/feels her life is not so great!
Effectively you judge your situation against your expectations. Generally it feels good when you have good quality of life, and it feels good when you have helped someone else have a better quality of life
It can vary in time as circumstances change. I don’t think people living in Ukraine would consider their quality of life as being great at the moment.
Small incremental changes are important. If you have lived in luxury for a while, if suddenly the shower water is not so hot, you would complain. But if you have been homeless getting a shower with water is great.
In general if you can help a person to have a good quality of life is a good thing. How would one go about that?
Starts with Intention
It has to be your intention.
In a recent news release of the ministry of health we read: “As a government, we have learned a lot (from the pandemic) and have also taken crucial steps to making sure residents in LTC homes have the best quality of life possible and are safe. The intention is clear! The minister said that Long-term care residences are people’s homes, that’s where they live.
What about Kiwanis? On the website it states that their “mission is to continuously improve the quality, effectiveness and efficiency of our care”. The intention is there!
Know the Person
Your ability to ensure that a person has good quality of life you need an idea of the things that are important in that person’s life – there is a long list of the softer things in the WHO definition. You basically have to know the person.
When I first moved to Kiwanis I was interviewed and a list compiled of my interests, background, and other fun facts about me. I thought that was a brilliant first step towards understanding my needs and interests. The manager, Dimitra, came and took a photo of me – she would not know this, but I absolutely hate having pictures taken of me, but she explained it was to put on the door so people could learn to recognize me. Great idea!
So, in just these few items I mentioned, Kiwanis has shown they are keen and ready to ensure we who live here have quality of life.
Are there problems?
There definitely are, and that is normal. QOL is not static, you cannot expect the same level of care/service when external circumstances are counterproductive, like during the pandemic or during the economic recession that we have now.
Need for a System
What is important is that you have a system in place to identify problems and to find solutions. It is important that this system be independent of the LTC management, assuming a team of some kind, that they are allowed to meet and investigate without interference and that the activities of the system is transparent and freely available. That is in essence the function that the ministry’s residents and family council as recently defined is to fulfil.
My Example
So in theory I should be able to explain to this council that I had requested kosher food and that it is not implemented satisfactorily. My son should be able to find out if and when the issue was raised, who was assigned to deal with it, what was decided to do about it, and what the current status is. I am probably not the only person in LTC who has requested kosher food, so we should be able to find out if this has been raised as a problem elsewhere and what solution they came up with.
It may sound like a small problem , and it is, which is why I chose it as an example. But it does affect my quality of life in a big way.
The dietician was quick to point our that it was not possible to set up a kosher kitchen here. I understood and accepted that, it did not violate the principles of my faith.
So I do mostly get dishes without pork, seafood, etc. At first they did not realize that bacon was pork and that most commercial soup stock. But the food that I get is often so insipid that I long for some of the non-kosher dishes that my table mates are getting. I am reminded that I have given them extra work by the way they plonk the dish down in front of me (sigh).
So when Passover comes around, I am a nervous wreck – how am I going to explain to them that I did not want any bread, muffins, crumbed chicken etc.! More sleepless nights for me.
I hate it when people do something for me and I cannot show my appreciation. So what if they did not give me matzos – my friends and family looked everywhere but could not find any because of the long supply chain complications.
There are many more issues that arise because of my faith, but that is not the point of this section. I chose these two problem areas to illustrate the need for a system to capture and fix problems as required by the residents and family councils.
Many of the quality of life matters are complex and require more work to implement solutions for. Ongoing training is required.
As the saying goes, you can’t take every cough to the doctor. I believe that being grateful as a way of life goes a long way to experiencing quality of life. We were very poor when I grew up. I got my first pair of shoes when my aunt got married, I was 7 at the time. Yes it was Africa but it got really cold in winter and my feet got cracked all over.
I know the value of things and appreciate all that Kiwanis makes possible for me, I decide to have quality of life or as the EVC guide puts it “living well” with Parkinson’s. I have many health problems that make it difficult to keep that philosophy up but I try.