Background

Measures exist for assessing the health-related quality of life impact of illnesses, but these measures are not suited for older persons who are aging actively in the community.

Our team is developing a new measure of quality of life, specifically for and by older adults living independently in the community, and that covers domains related to active aging and active living. 

About our study

We will have focus groups and interviews (by Zoom or telephone) with older adults to explore their perspectives on what it means to live actively in the community. The answers to these questions will be used to identify items for our new measure.

What do we want to know?

What does it mean to live actively for older people living in the community? That is our question.

The objective of this study is to identify components of active living that older people consider relevant. In the end, we hope to develop a health-related quality of life (HRQL) measure that will benefit prevention and health promotion among older adults.

How are we going to conduct the research study?

This study will take place in nine different sites across Canada, the US, and Europe. The sites are McGill University, which is the central site, McMaster University, Queen’s University, University of Manitoba, UT Health San Antonio, Erasmus University, and Oxford Brookes University.

Through focus groups or one-on-one interviews (by Zoom or by telephone) the participants will answer a few questions related to their own perspective of what active living is in the community. For example, they can be asked what older persons can do to live actively in the community. The answers to these questions will be used to identify items for the development of our new measure.

International Collaboration

We’re excited to share that this research study is being carried out across four countries!

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller