University of Queensland researchers say a new tool to measure the quality of life of people with dementia will provide more targeted care to those affected.
The method assesses five key areas that contribute to quality of life – physical health, mood, memory, life situation and the ability to undertake fun activities, and especially takes into account the views of people with dementia, Associate Professor Tracy Comans said the tool shows that physical health is seen as the most important contribution to quality of life, followed by a person’s life situation.
“We found that the priorities of people with dementia and their caregivers differ from those of the general population, with their life situation and ability to do fun things being valued as the most important contribution to quality of life,” said Associate Professor Tracy Comans. However, people with dementia, their caregivers and the general population all considered memory to be the least important for a good quality of life.
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Comans said that almost 2,000 people from the general population completed an online survey while people with dementia and their caregivers were interviewed personally.
“The views of people with dementia were given priority when developing the tool,” she said. “The five areas were validated by three focus groups and confirmed that activities that affect the quality of life of people with dementia were assigned to one of the areas can be.
“Study participants assessed each of the key areas individually before adding them together to get an overall quality of life assessment.
Researchers said the tool can now be used to ensure that the prospects of people with dementia and their caregivers are considering interventions to improve the quality of …
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