TY - JOUR
T1 - An integrative approach to Quality of Life measurement, research, and policy
AU - Costanza, Robert
AU - Fisher, Brendan
AU - Ali, Saleem
AU - Beer, Caroline
AU - Bond, Lynne
AU - Boumans, Roelof
AU - Danigelis, Nicholas L.
AU - Dickinson, Jennifer
AU - Elliott, Carolyn
AU - Farley, Joshua
AU - Gayer, Diane Elliott
AU - Glenn, Linda Mac Donald
AU - Hudspeth, Thomas R.
AU - Mahoney, Dennis F.
AU - McCahill, Laurence
AU - McIntosh, Barbara
AU - Reed, Brian
AU - Abu Turab Rizvi, S.
AU - Rizzo, Donna M.
AU - Simpatico, Thomas
AU - Snapp, Robert
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - While Quality of Life (QOL) has long been an explicit or implicit policy goal, adequate definition and measurement have been elusive. Diverse "objective" and "subjective" indicators across a range of disciplines and scales, and recent work on subjective well-being (SWB) surveys and the psychology of happiness have spurred renewed interest. Drawing from multiple disciplines, we present an integrative definition of QOL that combines measures of human needs with subjective well-being or happiness. QOL is proposed as a multiscale, multi-dimensional concept that contains interacting objective and subjective elements. We relate QOL to the opportunities that are provided to meet human needs in the forms of built, human, social and natural capital (in addition to time) and the policy options that are available to enhance these opportunities. Issues related to defining, measuring, and scaling these concepts are discussed, and a research agenda is elaborated. Policy implications include strategies for investing in opportunities to maximize QOL enhancement at the individual, community, and national scales.
AB - While Quality of Life (QOL) has long been an explicit or implicit policy goal, adequate definition and measurement have been elusive. Diverse "objective" and "subjective" indicators across a range of disciplines and scales, and recent work on subjective well-being (SWB) surveys and the psychology of happiness have spurred renewed interest. Drawing from multiple disciplines, we present an integrative definition of QOL that combines measures of human needs with subjective well-being or happiness. QOL is proposed as a multiscale, multi-dimensional concept that contains interacting objective and subjective elements. We relate QOL to the opportunities that are provided to meet human needs in the forms of built, human, social and natural capital (in addition to time) and the policy options that are available to enhance these opportunities. Issues related to defining, measuring, and scaling these concepts are discussed, and a research agenda is elaborated. Policy implications include strategies for investing in opportunities to maximize QOL enhancement at the individual, community, and national scales.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79953813604&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5194/sapiens-1-11-2008
DO - 10.5194/sapiens-1-11-2008
M3 - Article
SN - 1993-3800
VL - 1
SP - 17
EP - 21
JO - Sapiens
JF - Sapiens
IS - 1
ER -