Current Issues and Trends
Name
Institution
Date
Current Issues and Trends
Quality of Life
The World Health Organization defines the quality of life as refers to a people’s perceptions about their position in life in the context of their value systems and culture concerning their set goals, standards, and expectations (Haraldstad et al., 2019). People are likely to rate their quality of life based on their ability to meet their set goals and expectations. When people have an in-depth understanding of their quality of life, they are likely to enhance their self-care processes, symptom relief, as well as their rehabilitation. The population’s quality of life is can be used in the identification of problems that affect patients. Subsequently, the information on the quality of life of the population can be communicated back to the population to enable them to anticipate as well as understand the consequences of their illnesses. When people understand their quality of life, they are likely to participate in health-related decision-making since a person’s quality of life can be used as a predictor of health outcomes and life expectancy.
Quality of life variables include a person’s social, physical, and emotional function, their attitudes towards illnesses, and features of their daily personal lives such as social interactions and the cost of illnesses. The items that should be looked into entail practices like general self-care, outlook on life, social support, general health, and life expectancy. Individuals that can be described as having a high quality of life are those who have achieved self-actualization regarding their abilities and lifestyles as well as having achieved satisfaction in their needs, values, and goals. Through self-actualization and satisfaction with various aspects of their lives, people are likely to demonstrate positive health outcomes.
Quality of Life in Healthcare Settings
In healthcare settings, quality of life is used to describe the health aspects of life. It reflects the impact, which disease and treatment have on the daily functioning of an individual as well as the perceived ability of an individual to lead a fulfilling life. Health-related quality of life measures the value assigned to individuals’ lives through their existing health impairments, their opportunities, and perceptions for health promotion, their functional status, presence or absence of injury, treatment, and health policy (Sosnowski et al., 2017). Quality of life in healthcare settings not only concerns the disease but also the social and psychological impact of the disease. It would be of paramount importance for healthcare administrators to understand the diverse dimensions of health-related quality of life, which affects patients diagnosed with different health conditions. The healthcare administrators would therefore need to look beyond addressing the patient’s clinical manifestations. They should address the patients’ social well-being and their psychological needs.
Christian healthcare administrators can assure the quality of life in the healthcare delivery settings by promoting the use of evidence-based guidelines in the management of the patient’s conditions. Evidence-based guidelines have been associated with improved patient outcomes, a decreased length of hospitalization, a reduction in hospital costs as well as the satisfaction of both the patients and the healthcare practitioners. It is vital to acknowledge that the evidence-based guidelines have gone through rigorous research and validation and hence have been proven effective and safe for use among patients.
Another way through which the Christian administrators can ensure the patients experience a quality of life would be the provision of spiritual services to the patients in the healthcare setting. For example, patients suffering from chronic illnesses and receiving end-of-life care might need spiritual care services. It would be vital for the administrators to provide chaplains or religious leaders based on the patient’s needs and requests to improve their spirituality and enable them to connect with their inner selves.
Health promotion would also be another way in which the administrators could ensure the quality of life in healthcare settings. Patients have a fundamental role in promoting their health outcomes through practices like lifestyle modifications, regular healthcare screening, and monitoring as well as compliance with the medications prescribed. The administrators could ensure that the healthcare professionals provide health education to the patients to ensure personal responsibility for their health outcomes. Through health education, the patients will be able to look out for risk factors and monitor their health regularly while at the same time being aware of their health status.
The administrators can also promote and sensitize the healthcare professionals on the need to provide emotional and social support to the patients. Patients need emotional and social support to positively deal with illness and most importantly have a positive outlook on life. The presence of support from the healthcare workers is likely to improve the coping mechanisms among patients while at the same time providing a conducive environment, which would promote healing. By empathizing with the patients, providing a listening ear, and establishing therapeutic relationships, the healthcare workers have a likelihood of improving the quality of life among the patients. A conducive environment will result in patient satisfaction and happiness enabling the patients to have a better quality of life while in the healthcare setting.
References
Haraldstad, K., Wahl, A., Andenæs, R., Andersen, J. R., Andersen, M. H., Beisland, E., … & Helseth, S. (2019). A systematic review of quality of life research in medicine and health sciences. Quality of life Research, 28(10), 2641-2650.
Sosnowski, R., Kulpa, M., Ziętalewicz, U., Wolski, J. K., Nowakowski, R., Bakuła, R., & Demkow, T. (2017). Basic issues concerning health-related quality of life. Central European journal of urology, 70(2), 206–211. https://doi.org/10.5173/ceju.2017.923