Review article

QUALITY OF LIFE CONCEPTS

Stjepan Orešković ; Faculty of Medicine, Zagreb

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to illustrate the multiplicity of meanings of the phrase "quality of life". This multiplicity has arisen after the fitness movement has been developed. The concept of sanctity of life, quality of life and social utility of life have never been clearly articulated, in the paper it is given a series of possible definitions such as
- quality of life as fulfillment of personal goals;
- quality of life as it refers to individual social utility
- the rational man definition;
- the individualistic view.
Very few social researches made attempts to identify some sort of overall measure of quality of life as whole and also subjective and objective indicators, usually by aggregating a variety of objective measures. They were also analyzed scales for measurement of the quality of life (Kornfield group definition; Weinstein and Stanson definition; Katz's; Andrews and Whitney's; Lehman's; Spitzer's and Lawton's).
It is shown how physician often retreat from sanctity of life to an operative ideology of rational-man quality of life in the daily care for their patients (for ex. treatment of coronary artery bypass surgery, terminally ill patients, quality of life during chemotherapy for breast cancer...).

Keywords

quality of life; quality of life measurement; health protection

Hrčak ID:

139414

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/139414

Publication date:

15.9.1994.

Article data in other languages: croatian german

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