Conceptual Approaches in Quality of Life Assessment for the Elderly

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) deals with technological solutions that help older adults to maintain their independence (or perceived self-esteem, life quality expectations in terms of social inclusion, depression or simply fraility) for longer periods of time than expected under no-support assumptions. Although such a definition is clear, we witness today a wide ways of interpretation of what Quality of Life is all about. Thus, here we examine conceptual developments in Quality of Life (QoL), in order to determine the factors of a good life. To our surprise, as of today quite a wide variety of theoretical models were presented describing and organizing Quality of Life components with relevance in the care of older adults. Our analysis show that the QoL aspects that influence the health status, from a functional, physical and emotional point of view, are focused on the functional status of the individual or the way a person can perform his social tasks without restrictions on physical or mental health. With these, we present our approach to measuring the quality of life that allows reconciliation between the existing measuring currents of QoL dimensions, using both the objective and the subjective circumstances assessment.