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This study explored the effects of the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 on different areas of quality of life (QOL) for children and adolescents with disabilities. Using a survey developed from the Quality of Life Instrument for People with Developmental Disabilities – Short Version (QOL-PDD-SV) (Brown, Raphael & Renwick, 1997) and The World Health Organisation Quality of Life - (WHOQOL)-BREF, parents or caregivers were asked to identify what level of importance and satisfaction their child or adolescent placed on areas of QOL including physical health, psychological health - stress levels and coping ability, attachment to their neighbourhood, friends, family, leisure activities, community access and schooling. They were also asked to determine what level of impact the earthquakes had had on each area of their child or adolescent’s life and overall quality of life in the aftermath of the earthquakes. A total of 31 parents of 22 males and 9 females between the ages of 2.5 years to 19 years of age (mean age: 12.6 years) responded. The results were collated and analysis was run to measure for the effect of age, gender and geographical location. The results found that the earthquakes affected nearly every area of QOL for the children and adolescents. The biggest impact on the children’s psychological health and their ability to cope It was observed that younger children (<13) were more likely to record improved or lessened effects from the earthquakes in psychological health areas. However, the areas of social belonging and friendships were the least affected by the earthquakes. Female children were more likely to indicate higher scores for social belonging after the earthquakes. Many parents observed that their children developed improved coping skills over the earthquake period. The findings in this study offer a better understanding of how earthquakes can affect the quality of life children and adolescents with disabilities.

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Background: In Sweden and Northern Europe, cardiovascular disease mortality rates are high. The clinical picture in the Western world is dominated by lifestyle diseases in which individual behavior and attitudes have a significant impact on the health effect. In the society cardiovascular disease is seen as an illness factor and contribution to disability. Conditions for a good life are not only good health also factors such as intimate relationships and meaningful work which affect the person's quality of life. Aim: Lifestyle changes and quality of life for patients, regarding cardiovascular disease. Method: A literature review was made. Eight articles, quantitative and qualitative were analyzed. The analysis revealed three themes and four subthemes. Results: Through interventions bodily- and behavioral change occurred, for example weightloss, better cholesterol- and bloodpressure levels and increased physical activity. Respondents also had better quality of life. Great importance was laid on education and information about different lifestyle changes. On the contrary, the nursing staff was careless with the documentation. Conclusion: Lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation, increased physical activity, reducing obesity and improving dietary habits and psychosocial factors such as reduced stress and depression, have a positive impact on the health of cardiovascular disease. Because these changes should not affect patients' quality of life, the nurse's communication and information are important. It's also important to combine good lifestyle changes with good quality of life, as adherence then is better. The nurse has to consider the patients whole life situation.

Bakgrund: I en befolkning där medelåldern ökar finns risk för ett ökat antal äldre med demenssjukdom. Demens är ett samlingsnamn för sjukdomar som medför minnessvårigheter och personlighetsförändring, vilket i sin tur kan sänka livskvaliteten. Syfte: var att beskriva aspekter av vad livskvalitet kan vara för personer med demens på särskilt boende. Metod: Detta är en litteraturstudie med deskriptiv design. Nio artiklar som besvarade studiens syfte valdes från databaserna Cinahl och Medline. Resultat: Flera studier rapporterar om vad livskvalitet är enligt demenssjuka som bor i särskilt boende. Livskvalitet är relaterad till bl.a. social samvaro, aktivitet, kost samt fysisk och psykisk känsla av hälsa. Slutsats: Sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsåtgärder kan påverka upplevelsen av livskvalitet för den demenssjuke. Meningsfulla aktiviteter som utförs tillsammans med vårdpersonalen och anhöriga är exempelvis betydelsefulla. Sjuksköterskan bör visa respekt för personens integritet, värdighet, autonomi och delaktighet.

The influence of physiotherapy for patients quality of life after stroke ABSTRACT Key words: stroke, quality of life, physiotherapy, Bobath technique. The influence of rehabilitation for patients after stroke helps to recover loss of functional disorder and the activities of daily living. There are created many physiotherapy techniques, which are used for the patients after stroke for the maximum recovery of the functions. Mostly clinical researches analyze the improvement of functional system. Though there are not many researches which analysis the influence of physiotherapy for the quality of life and they are not comprehensive. The purpose of the work: to evaluate patients quality of life after stroke using traditional physiotherapy methods and Bobath technique. The problems of the work: 1) To find out which components of the quality of life physiotherapy has the greater influence. 2) To find out which factors – age, gender, neurological lesion, has the influence for physiotherapy efficiency or for the quality of life. 3) To evaluate which physiotherapy methods has better influence using the traditional physiotherapy or using Bobath technique. The object of the work: 1) Patients quality of life who had stroke and for which was used traditional physiotherapy. 2) Patients who had stroke quality of life and for which was used Bobath technique. The hypothesis of the work: Stroke negatively influences patients’ quality of life – patients’ physical condition, emotional... [to full text]

Since psychological adaptation to knowledge that child suffers autism is multi-element process, its different features were estimated. Among them: reaction of mothers to a knowledge, relations within family, mothers concern about the future of her child, excessive expression of care of the child, need for help. Also the quality of life of mothers raising child with the autism was examined. During the investigation, a questionnaire prepared by L.Čečkauskienės and G.Gintilienės (1996) “Questionnaire on the impact of diagnosed permanent child disease to parents” was used. It was disseminated among mothers growing. Also questionnaire created by M.B. Frish (1994) “Questionnaire on quality of life”, which was disseminated among mothers growing children suffering from autism and mothers growing healthy children, was used. It was proved, that mothers after the knowledge about autism diagnosis to their child, feel very embarrassed, deny such diagnosis, they are worrying about the future of their child. Results of investigation also shows, that relation within the family also are changing. Results of investigations on quality of life points out that for the quality of life for both, mothers growing children suffering from autism and mothers growing healthy ones, children, household, goals and worth are important. However, only mothers raising healthy children, express satisfaction about children and households. Mothers growing children suffering from autism, show their satisfaction to... [to full text]

This study is proposed to examine the relationship between individual and socio-economic factors and subjective quality of life (SQOL) among the Chinese oldest-old. Data was collected from the latest wave of Chinese healthy longevity survey in 2002. The sample of this survey consisted of 11,175 oldest-old who were aged 80 and above at the time of the survey. Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to examine age, gender, and living arrangements differences in SQOL among Chinese oldest-old. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to understand the influences of individual and socio-economic factors as four groups of predictor variables in SQOL among the oldest-old. The results showed that living with offspring, having children¡¯s frequent visits, living in an institution, participation in activities, higher self-rated health, and higher MMSE scores were positively related to SQOL. Living alone, in rural areas, and having better ADL functions were negatively related to SQOL among Chinese oldest-old. Centenarians and nonagenarians were found to have higher ratings of SQOL than octogenarians. This study may provide insights on how social, cultural, and familial factors influence subjective well-being in the very old age. Study findings may have policy implications for the promotion of quality of life for older adults, specifically, the oldest-old in China.

Fourteen cancer caregivers participated in a six-week Vinyasa Yoga (VY) intervention and completed demographic items, psychological distress, measures of QOL, and open-ended questions. There was a significant difference and large effect (n2 =.47) in the total mood disturbance scores; t(13)= 3.43, p=0.005, 95% CI [8.6, 38.1]. There was no significant difference in the Physical Component Score; t(13)= 1.70, p=0.113, 95% CI [-.8, 6.8], n2 =0.18. There was a significant difference and large effect (n2 =.30) in the Mental Component Score; t(13)= -2.37, p=0.034, 95% CI [-12.9, -.6]. Additional analyses indicated that several subdomains of psychological distress and QOL were significant. Responses to the survey questions revealed participants perceived benefiting physically and mentally from the VY intervention, noting improvements in flexibility, core and upper-body strength, mindfulness, breathing, and energy. Although further and more rigorous exploration is required, this study provides support for the feasibility of VY with cancer caregivers.