Quality of Life and Older People: An Empirical Study amongst Older Cypriots

Abstract

This chapter provides a critical approach to the conceptualization and measurement of quality of life in social gerontology and health and social care research. By drawing data from a 2-year research study among elderly people in Cyprus (funded by the Cyprus Research Council during the period 2007–2009), it describes the experiences of older people through their own personal accounts and representations in everyday life, popular culture, and scientific research. The data are collected by employing the biographical/life history approach (through a series of in-depth interviews) and subsequently are analyzed by applying: (1) SPSS and (2) content analysis. The participants are selected by nonprobability means of sampling (Quota/Purposive) and would cover both urban and rural areas in Cyprus. Around 100 people (aged 60 and above—living at home and at elderly peoples’ institutions) would be interviewed on the following domains relevant to the quality of life of older people: (a) subjective satisfaction, (b) physical environment factors, (c) social environmental factors, (d) socioeconomic factors, (e) cultural factors, (f) health status factors, (g) personality factors, and (h) personal autonomy factors. The quality of life for elderly people in the twenty-first century will depend on a number of fundamental changes in the way that societies perceive and respond to human aging. However, it would be difficult to change attitudes without making some inroad into the government’s policies. The findings from this research project would hopefully: (1) help to improve interventions by advising the policy makers on a national level and (2) provide a platform where knowledge from cross-cultural research on elderly could be exchanged and shared.