The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of attendance at a senior center on the well being and quality of life of grandparents that were rearing grandchildren. Using convenience sampling, grandparents (N=130) who were rearing grandchildren were given a self administered demographic data survey along with an attendance at a senior center questionnaire, the Quality of Life Scale, the Well Being Scale by Liang, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Caregiver Burden Scale, and the Role Satisfaction Scale. An initial MANOVA (F 7, 69 = 2.72, p < .01) suggesting that senior center attendance affect the measures as a set was conducted and then a series of one way ANOVAs were carried out to test the hypothesis that attending a senior center has an effect on the dependent variables: well being, quality of life, role satisfaction, caregiver burden, loneliness, current health, and heath one year ago. Subsequently, a hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to find out whether frequency and quality of attendance of a senior center predicted quality of life, caregiver burden, well being, loneliness, and role satisfaction, controlling for the demographic data. The results of the MANOVA showed that the dependent variables: quality of life, caregiver burden, well being and role satisfaction were impacted positively by the attendance of a senior center. The results of the regression analyses showed that for each of the major dependent variables, after controlling for the demographic data, the quality and frequency of involvement at the senior center did not have a uniquely significant role in predicting the dependent variables. The results of this study shows that further research need to be conducted to answer other questions regarding grandparents who are rearing minor grandchildren and the affects that senior centers may have in assisting in the management of this new task that grandparents have found themselves dealing with.

Empirical evidence consistently shows that an emphasis on materialistic values negatively correlates with quality of life, both at an individual and societal level. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to a better understanding of this interrelationship. The thesis is divided into two parts - theoretical and empirical. The theoretical part presents concepts both of quality of life and materialism as well as contemporary approaches to their research and measurement. Special attention is paid to the concept of eudaimonic well-being as a core concept of optimal human functioning, and to the concept of post-materialism as a value orientation that emphasizes self-expression and quality of life. The thesis is based on two propositions referring to the relation between quality of life and materialistic value orientation. On the one hand, materialism facilitates an economic development and market economy of a given society. At a certain level of economic development there is a tendency to shift to post-materialistic values associated with autonomy, self-realization and personal growth. This value shift is not effortless, as the other proposition claims. The consumer-driven culture produced by the modern economy promotes material values. It claims that the route to happiness and well-being is through...

The thesis focuses on the subjectively perceived changes in the lives of persons in the methadone maintenance treatment program, on their experiencing of the changes and subjective judgment of the treatment. The topic is treated according to the Bio-Psycho-Socio-Spiritual Model of Addiction. The theoretical part deals with the quality of life and the subjectively perceived well-being and defines six dimensions of well-being on which the practical part of the thesis is based. It also elaborates on the Bio-Psycho-Socio-Spiritual Model of Addiction in the context of the methadone maintenance treatment. Moreover, it describes the factors in life change and the motivation to change. The last theoretical chapter focuses on the opioid substitution treatment as such and more specifically on the methadone maintenance treatment. The practical part presents the results of the research. The aim of the thesis is to analyse how the persons in the methadone maintenance treatment program in České Budějovice perceive life changes. A qualitative research was chosen for that purpose. The data were obtained through the technique of narrative interview. The research group consisted of four respondents who were on the methadone maintenance treatment program. The results show that the subjectively perceived changes in the lives of the persons in the methadone maintenance treatment program relate to five out of six dimensions of well-being. No changes were recorded in the dimension concerning the sense of life, in other words, even after a several month methadone maintenance treatment these persons perceive no goal of their lives. Important consequences for work with these persons can be drawn from that, especially for therapists in opioid substitution centres, who should develop spirituality aspects of persons.