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Quality of Life in the Nursing Home: Perspectives of Younger and Older Residents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Ashli Watt  and
Candace Konnert
Ashli Watt
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Calgary
Candace Konnert*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Calgary
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to : Candace Konnert, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary AB T2N 1N4. (konnert@ucalgary.ca)
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Abstract

Adults aged 65 and younger make up a significant proportion of nursing-home residents. To date, however, there is no research examining their quality of life (QOL), including how their perceptions of QOL compare to those of older nursing-home residents. This study used a multidimensional approach to (a) assess the QOL of younger nursing-home residents and its relationship to health, social support, and leisure activities; and (b) compare the QOLs of younger and older residents. The sample consisted of 43 younger residents (M = 53.7 years) and 38 older residents (M = 79.92 years). Results indicate that there were no age differences in QOL, suggesting the need for a broad conceptualization of QOL in the nursing-home population.

Résumé

Les adultes âgés de 65 ans et moins forment une partie importante des résidents des centres d'hébergement de soins de longue durée. Jusqu'à maintenant, toutefois, aucune recherche n'examine leur qualité de vie, y compris de quelle façon leurs perceptions de la qualité de vie se comparent à celles des résidents plus âgés de ces centres. La présente étude a employé une approche multidimensionnelle pour évaluer la qualité de vie des résidents plus jeunes de ces centres d'hébergement et sa relation avec la santé, le soutien social, et les loisirs; et elle compare la qualité de vie des résidents plus jeunes et plus âgés. L'échantillon comprenait 43 résidents plus jeunes (M = 53,7 ans) et 38 résidents plus âgés (M = 79,92 ans). Les résultats indiquent qu'il n'y avait aucune différence d'âge en ce qui a trait à la qualité de vie, et suggèrent qu'il faut une conceptualisation élargie de la qualité de vie de la population des centres d'hébergement de soins de longue durée.

Keywords

agingquality of lifeyounger adultsnursing homevieillissementqualité de vieadultes plus jeunescentres d'hébergement de soins de longue durée
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 26 , Issue 4 , Winter/Hiver 2007 , pp. 403 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2007

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