Care trends
Quality of life: a people-first approach
Nicky Whittaker, national account manager at Miele Professional, looks at the importance of quality of life for care home residents and what steps should be taken to ensure it continues to be a priority, both now and in the future
Quality of life is what makes life worth living. Having a good quality of life makes you want to get up every day, it makes you want to talk to those around you, to engage with daily activities, and encourages you to stay as independent as possible. Making the move from independent living to a residential or nursing home environment can make an individual feel as though they are unable to do things for themselves. Ensuring residents have a good quality of life can significantly change their outlook, as maintaining their independence can provide a sense of purpose and belonging. Taking that away from a person can mean they can quickly become reliant on others and lose their drive and determination – something that is vital for most elderly people.
Impacts of the pandemic During the pandemic and for some time after, quality of life for residents in many care homes declined due to visitor restrictions, isolation, shielding, and increased hygiene protocols – to name just a few. While these measures were put in place to protect the elderly from the transmission of COVID-19, this came at a cost. We conducted a survey post-pandemic into the
February 2024
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future of care, and nearly one third of care home professionals agreed that quality of life for their residents had dropped substantially over a two-year period. In a forum we hosted with care home managers, participants said that residents had to be wrapped up in cotton wool and were not given the experiences they needed to ‘live life’. “While everything is a priority, the number one priority should always be the residents. It’s about quality of life not longevity and that’s been lost a bit,” was one such response. Survey respondents agreed that the emphasis on value of life should remain in the long term, and care homes are reemphasising the importance of quality of life now that rules and restrictions have eased. However, quality of life within a care home setting has been a subject of debate by leaders in the health and social care sector for some time, with many questioning what it actually means. In a report by The National
Activities can provide an individual with routine, purpose, and perspective
Library of Medicine, the definition used suggests ‘quality of life is subjective and is often related to residents’ satisfaction with life, including their level of control, privacy, interactions, safety, and ability to go about their daily lives’. In a nutshell, it depends on what activities make an individual’s life meaningful and worth living.
Measuring quality of life
The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) states that care providers are obliged to nurture residents’ quality of life, but there is currently no standard way of measuring quality of life in care homes. While the CQC rates whether a care home is safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well- led, it is unknown if this reflects the quality of life for residents. According to the NIHR, this is important because care workers are often paid relatively poorly and receive little training beyond their basic induction. This, combined with staff shortages and increased time pressures, can impact how quality of life is nourished. Moreover, the NIHR also identified that quality of life is difficult to measure, and staff need the right tools to gather information about a resident’s health and quality of life. This can
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