Towards A Quality Life

It is not the same to live, to live with quality. This little last name that we put to life is what nurtures true happiness and personal satisfaction. Although it has been the world of intellectual disability in which the quality of life has been worked the most, it is something that affects all of us.

Have you ever stopped to reflect on what quality of life really means? What does it mean to live with quality? Does it just mean being physically and mentally healthy? Could you have a dignified life without illness, but with people around you who would do and decide everything for you?

This last question is very interesting and the starting point of this concept. Many times we have thought that “the good life” is that they do everything to you. That they clean you, that they cook for you, that they give you done everything you like, etc. However, could you really be happy and feel useful in this way?

What does quality of life mean?

Before taking steps towards well-being, we must stop to think what it means to be happy, how we can know if our life has quality or not and what we need to improve this quality. The first step we would have to take would be to understand what quality of life really means.

The authors Schalock and Verdugo, maximum exponents of this model, explain that a person can have quality of life when his needs are satisfied and he has the opportunity to enrich his life in the areas that would be important. What does this mean? How would we know if our needs are met?

We can break down what quality means and break its semantics into smaller chunks to better see the total meaning. To do this, we can divide the quality of life into eight dimensions or areas that everyone would have to cultivate. The dimensions of quality of life are emotional and material well-being, personal relationships, personal development, physical well-being, self-determination, and social inclusion and rights.

The pillars that sustain people’s happiness are independence, social participation, and physical and mental well-being. If one of these pillars is broken or weakened, the person’s satisfaction may also be impaired.

The importance of those around us

Human beings do not live in bubbles, isolated from others. We cannot understand the quality of life without taking into account those around us. This includes both people close to us and others who we may not even want to know, but who in one way or another influence us.

Family, people you live with, friends, and co-workers are people you interact with on a daily basis. With them you laugh, create happy moments, support yourself in sad moments, enjoy your free time or share the vast majority of your life.

We cannot forget that we live surrounded by other people or groups that also end up influencing our day-to-day lives. People who are part of the community, such as the woman who serves us in the supermarket, the gym teacher, the next door neighbor, etc., also have an impact on our lives.

Furthermore, we are all within a culture that follows certain laws or social rules. These impact our way of seeing life, our values, beliefs and the meaning of what surrounds us. What in a given culture can be considered something positive in another can be experienced in a very negative way.

Steps that bring us closer to living a quality life

Depending on where we are, the way to improve the quality of life takes one form or another. If we talk about the social and cultural system, the steps that will have to be taken will be the modification of social policies, rights and equality, as well as that these have economic support to be able to move forward.

When we talk about quality of life in companies or organizations that surround us, we will have to focus on organizational change, internal and external policies, activities and training aimed at the inclusion of this vision in the organization.

If what we want is to have an impact on a person’s quality of life, we will have to focus on the eight dimensions that we have discussed. One of the most useful models for improving the quality of life of others is person-centered planning. 

Person-centered planning

Person-centered planning or PCP is based on putting the magnifying glass on the person, placing it right in the center of what we want to look at. This look must always take into account that the human being is unique, has inalienable rights, is an independent being with its own tastes and preferences.

Knowing and understanding what the person feels, what their strengths, aspirations and capabilities are will be essential in the process of improving the quality of life. You have to give the person a voice, empower them and attend to both their needs and those around them.

Addressing the quality of life dimensions of the person, caring for those around them and supporting ourselves on the pillars of self-determination, social participation and well-being are the steps we have to take to start walking on this long road that we call quality of life.