The prerequisites for QoL of people with intellectual disabilities

Õie Umb-Carlsson; Helena Lindstedt

doi:10.1080/15017419.2010.490729

The prerequisites for QoL of people with intellectual disabilities

Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research

Volume 13 (2011): Issue 4

By: Õie Umb-Carlsson and Helena Lindstedt

Open Access

|Nov 2011

Abstract

Quality of life (QoL) is seldom described in terms of the essence of what it is. Also, an essential task for the research community is to create space for the voices of people with intellectual disabilities. The aim of the present study was to understand the lived meaning and the essence of QoL in adults with this disability. Using a phenomenological approach, 21 informants living in a Swedish county were interviewed. The interviews were audio taped and analyzed with the empirical phenomenological psychological method. The results indicate that the general essence of QoL consists of well-being and five themes: social adult status, control of life, personal safety, social belonging and self-chosen solitude. The results challenge the stereotype of the informants as passive receivers of support from others. The interrelatedness between the five themes of QoL should be further studied.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15017419.2010.490729 | Journal eISSN: 1745-3011

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Language: English

Page range: 241 - 253

Submitted on: Sep 10, 2009

Accepted on: Apr 16, 2010

Published on: Nov 4, 2011

Published by: Stockholm University Press

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

quality of life,

intellectual disabilities,

adult,

phenomenology

© 2011 Õie Umb-Carlsson, Helena Lindstedt, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 13 (2011): Issue 4