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The Integral Quality of Life Scale: Development, Validation, and Use

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Enhancing the Quality of Life of People with Intellectual Disabilities

Part of the book series: Social Indicators Research Series ((SINS,volume 41))

Abstract

This study is aimed to achieve two general goals. The first is to present the quality of life (QOL) conceptual and measurement framework that is currently being used to implement QOL-related program practices, to assess and report personal outcomes, to guide quality improvement strategies, and to evaluate the effectiveness of those practices and strategies. The second is to report about a QOL questionnaire: the QOL Integral Scale (Verdugo, Gómez, Arias, & Schalock, 2009, Quality of life integral scale. Madrid: CEPE), using that theoretical framework. The instrument allows to assessing objective and subjective QOL. The sample was composed of 861 participants with intellectual disabilities. Factorial analysis was combined with innovative analysis such as self-organizing maps (SOM), generative topographic mapping (GTM), and non-metric multidimensional scaling. The psychometric properties of the QOL Integral Scale indicate that the instrument is reliable and valid and, therefore, it can serve as a basis for the development of both person-centered plans and quality improvement strategies in organizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology-University of Salamanca, Institute on Community Integration, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain

    Miguel Á. Verdugo & Laura E. Gómez

  2. Institute on Community Integration, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain

    Benito Arias

  3. Hastings College, Hastings, NE, USA

    Robert L. Schalock

Authors
  1. Miguel Á. Verdugo
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  2. Laura E. Gómez
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  3. Benito Arias
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  4. Robert L. Schalock
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miguel Á. Verdugo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Accounting and Finance, Monash University, PO Box 197, Caulfield East, 3145, Victoria, Australia

    Ralph Kober

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Verdugo, M.Á., Gómez, L.E., Arias, B., Schalock, R.L. (2010). The Integral Quality of Life Scale: Development, Validation, and Use. In: Kober, R. (eds) Enhancing the Quality of Life of People with Intellectual Disabilities. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 41. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9650-0_4

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