The compendium on standards for the quality of life of care home residents serves as a basis for the transfer of know-how to paid staff, volunteers and committed relatives.
In the debate of long-term care, a paradigm shift from quality of care to quality of life has been observed over time. The perception of quality of life is subjective and based on both biographical and environmental factors. Unlike quality of care, in which indicators such as the number of decubitus cases provide clues to the overall situation, quality of life is characterized by soft factors with individually varying importance.
WHO defines quality of life as an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns. In this context, long-term care is defined as a system by which a person with care and nursing needs can maintain the highest possible quality of life, ensuring self-fulfilment through autonomy, participation and human dignity.
The compendium reflects the state-of-the-art in theory and practice on these three dimensions with corresponding themes, criteria and indicators for the quality of life of care home residents.
You can explore the compendium at the “Project results” section of the Website. It is also available in different languages.