Affectionate relationships with animal companions have health-enhancing effects on people and enrich their quality of life, and the majority of families with companion animals regard their animals as family members. Research has also suggested that these relationships are complicated and vary depending on a number of factors, yet there has been…

Quality-of-life in nations can be measured by how long and happy people live. This is assessed by combining data on life expectancy drawn from civil registration with survey data on subjective enjoyment of life as a whole. This measure of "apparent" quality-of-life is a good alternative to current indexes of "assumed"…

It is generally believed that, when partnerships with civil society are created, members of the public become engaged in defining and solving problems, and as a result become empowered through enhanced understanding of substantive problems, and of the processes used by society to deal with them. In this context, two fundamental assumptions related…

Consideration of the relationship between physical and mental health co-morbidities in ageing persons with Down syndrome (DS) and Alzheimer's dementia (AD) is of clinical importance both from a care and resource perspective. To investigate and measure health co-morbidities in ageing persons with Down syndrome with and without AD. Recorded physical…

Women often feel dissatisfied with their appearance after comparing themselves to other females who epitomize the thin-ideal standard of beauty. The current study posits that women associate a thin-ideal female body type with positive life-success, and that it may be this psychological link that drives feelings of negativity toward the self after…

The international implementation plan for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) identifies four elements for the achievement of sustainable development through education: (1) recognising the challenge; (2) collective responsibility and constructive society; (3) acting with determination; and (4) the indivisibility of human…

Universal design is made up of four elements: accessibility, adaptability, aesthetics, and affordability. This article addresses the concept of universal design problem solving through experiential learning for an interior design studio course in postsecondary education. Students' experiences with clients over age 55 promoted an understanding of…

Background: Bereaved adults with intellectual disabilities are known to experience prolonged and atypical grief which is often unrecognized. The aim of this project was to find an effective way to improve mental health and behavioural outcomes. Methods: Subjects were randomized to two different therapeutic interventions: traditional counselling by…

Background: The aim of this study was to explore a procedure for drafting individualised profiles of how people with profound multiple disabilities express pleasure and displeasure. Method: There were 6 participants with profound multiple disabilities. The procedure involved an observational analysis of videotaped critical incidents by a…

This article describes an innovative program that assists individuals with their personal development and teaches them to craft lives of meaning and purpose. Framed around developmental, relational-cultural and life span transitional theories, the program explores themes such as identity, security, relationships, beliefs/values and dreams/visions…

Increasing attention is being given to the fact that positive behavior support (PBS) not only affects individual quality of life but branches out to affect family quality of life as well. This article provides a brief overview of family quality of life, citing specific information from the "Beach Center Family Quality of Life Scale". An analysis…

Kahneman and Tversky's (1979) Prospect theory was tested as a model of preferences for prolonging life under various hypothetical health statuses. A sample of 384 elderly people living in congregate housing (263 healthy, 131 frail) indicated how long (if at all) they would want to live under each of nine hypothetical health conditions (e.g.,…

Two major predictors of subjective quality of life (SQOL) in adults are known to be self-esteem and a sense of primary control. Moreover, secondary control is known to be unimportant defense strategy when primary control fails. This study aimed to determine whether these relationships also apply to children. A sample of 66 children aged from 5 to…

Background: The Item Response Theory (IRT) has advantages for measuring Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) as opposed to the Classical Tests Theory (CTT). Objectives: To present the results of the application of a polytomous model based on IRT, specifically, the Rating Scale Model (RSM), to measure HRQOL with the EORTC QLQ-C30. Methods: 103…

Two persons with severe intellectual disabilities and two persons with profound intellectual disabilities were repeatedly presented with five different pairs of food items. The five pairs of items represented different degrees of preference, from highest to lowest. Happiness indices were monitored from the time that a pair of items was presented…