Quality of Life of the Healthy Elderly: Residential Setting and Social Comparison Processes, 2000-2002

The objectives and research questions of this project were:<ul><li>to increase understanding of the factors that contribute to quality of life (QoL) perceptions in the healthy elderly</li><li>to obtain a broader understanding of the factors that influence QoL perceptions among the healthy elderly</li><li>to contribute to understanding of the effects of positive and negative life changes on person-centred QoL perceptions in the healthy elderly</li><li>to further develop and refine a theoretical model of the psychological and psycho-social processes involved in constructing QoL judgements</li></ul>Participants, living in the London borough of Wandsworth, who were 65 years or older and considered themselves to be in good health, were recruited for the study. Two hundred and fifty volunteers were invited to a selection interview on the basis of which inclusion in the study was determined. Selected participants were invited to three main assessment interviews, which essentially included the same measures, at eight-monthly intervals (range 28 to 45 weeks, mean 33 weeks). The interviews, which lasted between two and three hours, were conducted either in participants' homes, or at the University of Surrey at Roehampton, as the participants preferred.