Quality of Life

Introduction

The pursuit of quality of life (QL) is so central to human existence that the question of what is QL and what variables influence QL has been the focus of intellectual debate and scientific investigation from the time of the early philosophers. Current research on QL encompasses many disciplines and issues, including psychology, sociology, medicine, nursing, pharmaceutics, economics, education, architecture, geography, business marketing, the arts, income, employment, and community and environmental concerns.

In 1976, Campbell, Converse, and Rogers published a book that would become a classic, The Quality of American Life. Campbell et al. described QL as a vague and ethereal entity, something that many people talk about, but which nobody has a clear idea of what it is. The work by Campbell et al. inspired ...