What determines quality of life? Who determines your quality of life? How do you measure quality of life? These are big, broad questions, but both the measure and the research already exist.
Last week, the Hireup support office team heard a panel discussion with our community about quality of life. We were joined by Dr Rebecca, who researches quality of life at the University of Sydney, Lynn, who's been a Hireup client since 2018 and Jeanine, one of Hireup’s first account managers.
The conversation was centred around that tough question... can you actually measure someone’s quality of life? Dr Rebecca, who’s dedicated her life to researching this, stated the obvious. That “quality of life is an individual thing that lives within the individual. I think we all have our own personal definition of what that means.” But she went on to explain how research takes that into account to measure quality based on each person’s definition.
“When we follow one individual over time, we can attribute actual change, actual differences in their life” she says. That might sound confusing, but Jeanine articulated it well when she explored the role happiness has played in the quality of life for her family.
“We were used to always having to compromise on our happiness. When we started using Hireup, Daniel was actually able to do something he wanted to do and then eventually I started going out and doing what I wanted to do. Then neither Daniel or myself was compromising on our quality of life.”
Throughout the conversation, it became clear that quality of life is actually a lot simpler than it sounds. We each have the desire to feel content, to feel valued and to feel like we have the right to do what we’d like to do. Lynn, who affectionately calls her support team ‘the girls,’ told us about the simple things her support workers do to change her quality of life.
“When any of ‘the girls’ walk in and they've got the bubbly smile, you tend to forget what your problems are in the end. It just brightens up the whole house.”
When we think of measuring quality of life and living with a disability, it’s easy to think we’re talking about something that is dry and clinical. But we know that it should be the opposite. Someone who has a good quality of life has a life that is fulfilling to them. Lynn explained why measuring quality needs to extend well beyond simple concepts like being able to get out and about, and needs to be broadened into all aspects of life.
“I mean it's a quality of life for my husband too, you know, like he knows when they walk in he can rest. They naturally don't just look after me. They ask Alex if he wants a cup of coffee too.”
Dr Rebecca, who is the Chair of the Australian chapter of the international society of quality of life, which brings together quality of life researchers, explained why Hireup should continue to focus on quality of life beyond this conversation.
“Well, you find that by asking people how they feel and why it will mean you can improve your service and make it more targeted to their needs.”
Although we’ve established that everyone’s quality of life is going to be different, hopefully everyone can aim to find a similar point of happiness that Daniel and Jeanine share.
“You just get to that point where everybody is happy and it really does affect the whole family quite profoundly. I don't think I realised that until we'd hit that moment. Now this is the measure of quality for us.”
