As Activity Professionals, we strive to enhance quality of life for each person that we serve. In order to enhance quality of life, we must first define it. Quality of life may be defined differently by each person. The process of discovering the important aspects of a person’s daily life is typically completed by asking questions to the person, their significant others, and by observation. It sounds simple, but it is not always easy. This task requires knowledge, skills, and effective communication strategies
Interviewers must know what information to collect, how to phrase questions, how to probe for more information, how to handle negative responses, how to assess the importance of a preference and how to overcome barriers. When interviewing for quality of life preferences the following barriers are common.
Different forms for the collection of important habits, routines, religious practices and preferences, meaningful relationships, involvement patterns and interests are available.
One of the services that ActivTimes provides is training to help staff to dig deeper, to find out who the person really is. On the LINKS section of this website assessment tools and sample questions to assist with this process are available.
In addition, 2 other excellent resources for structured interviews are:
Improving Quality of Life in Nursing Homes through Structured Resident Interview,
a project conducted by the University of Pittsburg. The overview and assessment materials can be found on the project website.
Assessments for Preference Based Living can be found at the Polisher Research Institute.
The PELI-Preference for Everyday Living Inventory is a comprehensive form. Versions of this form are also available for day health services and home care.