Adult carers quality of life questionnaire (AC-QoL): development of an evidence-based tool

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a new psychometric tool for the assessment of quality of life in adult informal carers. Design/methodology/approach – Two empirical studies are reported. Study 1 describes the psychometric development. An initial pool of 100 items was constructed and completed by 385 carers across the UK contacted through carers ' centres. Principal components analysis was then conducted. In study 2, a further 101 carers took part; all completed the scale prior to the intervention and again post-intervention, allowing the authors to test utility as a tool to assess change. Findings – Using principal components analysis with study 1 data the number of items was reduced to 40 that assessed eight domains; support for caring, caring choice, caring stress, financial implications, personal growth, sense of value, ability to care and carer satisfaction. In study 2 it was found that respondents scored higher post-intervention compared to pre-intervention. Research limitations/impl...