Quality of life among elderly nepali women
Open Access
- Author:
- Shrestha, Srijana
- Graduate Program:
- Psychology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 10, 2010
- Committee Members:
- Michelle Gayle Newman, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Steven Howard Zarit, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Michelle Gayle Newman, Committee Member
Pamela Marie Cole, Committee Member
Carolyn Elizabeth Sachs, Committee Member
Jeanne Marecek, Committee Member - Keywords:
- quality of life
aging
women
culture - Abstract:
- Quality of life construct can be used to assess how well an individual’s needs are met or how well his/her needs are being met by the society. In the field of gerontology, quality of life has been defined using a framework that ignores cultural differences that influence how elderly individuals define and assess their quality of life. The present study compares the quality of life as defined by two samples of Nepali elderly women: those who live with their families and those live in old age homes, investigating factors that are associated with quality of life in the two samples. The results show that social and cultural norms, informed by Hindu principles, that prescribe familial elder care impact how quality of life is constructed by both groups of women. It is shown that age and functional mobility are differently and significantly correlated with quality of life in the two groups. The findings are discussed in terms of quality of life as a socially constructed phenomenon.