Quality Of Life

Definition/Introduction

Quality of life (QoL) is a concept which aims to capture the well-being, whether of a population or individual, regarding both positive and negative elements within the entirety of their existence at a specific point in time. For example, common facets of QoL include personal health (physical, mental, and spiritual), relationships, education status, work environment, social status, wealth, a sense of security and safety, freedom, autonomy in decision-making, social-belonging and their physical surroundings.

The World Health Organization explains QoL as a subjective evaluation of one’s perception of their reality relative to their goals as observed through the lens of their culture and value system. The Quality of Life Research Unit at the University of Toronto defines QoL as how much a person can enjoy the valued possibilities of their lives. It is essential to recognize the difference between QoL and other somewhat similar concepts which might get easily confused in the literature, such as the standard of living and health-related quality of life. QoL differs from the former in that standard of living is largely based on economic status and income.

QoL differs from the public health measure health-related quality of life in that the latter is a measure that explores the connection between health and QoL. As there has been recognized difficulty with arriving at a universally accepted definition and measurement, recent studies have attempted to re-frame QoL into separate domains. One example of this re-framing is the “engaged theory,” which takes QoL and divides it into four main domains: economics, culture, politics, and ecology.[1][2][3][4]