It's a core issue at the heart of elder care: while best-practice data exist for long-term care, quality of life as a concept, measure and standard for care outcomes remains elusive. The result of an ambitious European research initiative, the Care Keys Project addresses quality of life issues among frail, care-dependent seniors, taking their social as well as health needs into account. Care-Related Quality of Life in Old Age explains the theory behind Care Keys, its methodology, empirical findings, and practical considerations in promoting effective, efficient elder care aimed at social and emotional well-being and including disabled and cognitively impaired patients. This important book:

"This book examines the relationship between quality of care and quality of life of frail older persons who are dependent on external support and care. Quality of life in old age has become a key issue within gerontology and health and social care research. The book specifically addresses this issue by developing a new concept of "care-related quality of life." Key questions addressed include: what are the determinants of care-related quality of life in old age? How can care contribute to and support the quality of life of older clients? And how should care be managed to facilitate good quality and effective care? The book addresses these issues by providing theoretical and methodological perspectives on the problem area, together with chapters based on original empirical research. The research was financed by the EU, and it involved studies in Finland, Estonia, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Research Framework.- The General Framework and Methods of the Care Keys Research.- Instrumentation of the Care Keys Research.- Care Keys Data and Statistical Methods.- Theoretical Results.- The Concept of Care-Related Quality of Life.- The Concept of Quality of Long-Term Care.- Quality Management in Long-Term Care.- Empirical Results.- Subjective Quality of Life of Care-Dependent Older People in Five European Union Countries.- Quality of Life of Older Homecare Clients.- Quality of Life in Institutional Care.- Quality of Life and Dementia.- The Target Efficiency of Care-Models and Analyses.- Quality Management and the Care Keys Quality Matrix.- The Care Keys Toolkit.- Summary.- Care-Related Quality of Life: An Overview.