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Quality of life refers to the overall well-being of individuals and societies, including factors such as environment, health, education, recreation, and happiness. It is often used to evaluate the livability of a society and is measured in different contexts, with both qualitative and quantitative factors considered. The World Bank defines quality of life in terms of eradicating poverty, while NGOs often focus on helping individuals in their communities. Methods for determining quality of life can be objective or subjective.
The term “quality of life” is used to indicate the general well-being of individuals and societies. It is often associated with the term “standard of living,” but the two don’t necessarily mean the same. A standard of living is simply an assessment of a person’s wealth and employment status in a society. While both are factors in determining quality of life, these are not its only indicator. A person’s environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation, social welfare, liberty, human rights, and happiness are also significant factors.
Some politicians and economists use the term “quality of life” to evaluate the livability of a society. In health care settings, a patient diagnosed with major depressive disorder is often evaluated on her quality of life. Many social psychologists also consider it an important factor influencing some people’s decisions to commit suicide.
Quality of life is measured in different contexts. In addition to health care, it is also used in international development and political science. This results in the different definitions given to the term. The factors considered are both qualitative and quantitative. Many local, national and international organizations conduct psychological surveys and tests to determine the quality of life of an individual or a society for different purposes.
In international development, quality of life is used to broaden the analysis of a society’s standard of living. The theories and methodologies used depend very much on the principles and ideologies of the organization. In many cases, these methods are also influenced by the type of result the organization expects from their study.
The World Bank has defined quality of life in terms of neoliberal policies that are supposed to eradicate poverty on a global scale. It defines the term according to the basic needs of human beings. Based on this, poverty is then defined as a low quality of life. For grassroots NGOs that are not focused on poverty reduction on a national or international scale, improving this aspect is usually done by helping individuals in their communities.
The methods for determining the quality of life in a society or for an individual can be objective or subjective. To illustrate, determining a person’s level of happiness is difficult to quantify. This is why many organizations prefer to depend on proven quantitative tools to assess it. A popular example is the Human Development Index used by the United Nations Development Programme.
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