Assessing children's quality of life in health and social services: meeting challenges and adding value
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17466660200600013 |
| Date | 01 October 2006 |
| Pages | 41-50 |
| Published date | 01 October 2006 |
| Author | Suzanne Skevington,Fiona Gillison |
41
Journal of Children’s Services
Volume 1 Issue 2 October 2006
©Pavilion Journals (Brighton) Ltd
1WHO Centre
for the Study of
Quality of Life,
University of BathAbstract
The measurement of children’s quality of life has an important role to play in improving their experience
of health and social services, and in promoting a child-centred approach to service provision. This article
provides a rationale for both the development of robust quality of life measures specifically for children
and also the use of these measures in assessing the effectiveness of treatments and policy changes. It
highlights recent advances in the development of quality of life measures and provides examples of two
instruments that haveincorporated these steps to produce reliable and valid measures that arenot only
comprehensible to children of different age groups, but also meaningful to parents and health
professionals. The challenge of matching statistically significant change in quality of life to changes of
perceived importance to the individual is also discussed in the light of the advantages to be gained from
the increased uptake within health and social careof quality of life measures for children.
Key words
children; quality of life; health; measurement; health status
Introduction
Quality of life (QoL) is defined by the World Health
Organisation as ‘An individual’s perceptions of their
position in life, in the context of the culture and value
systems in which they live, and in relation to their
goals, expectations, standards and concerns’ (The
WHOQOL Group, 1993). Although the need is widely
acknowledged, the issue about whether it is possible
to measureachild’s quality of life in the context of
health and social services, and if so how best to do
this, has been hotly debated. In England, the National
Service Framework (NSF) for Children (DoH, 2003)
stated that a key rationale for investing in improving
services was to help reduce costs later on, because
earlier access to better child and adolescent mental
health services ‘can help to prevent the later
development of more complex problems and
significantly improve quality of life’ (p17). Services for
disabled children and those with serious mental
health problems were of particular concern:
‘[Children] require a comprehensive diagnosis and
assessment to identify the social and physical barriers
which may inhibit their access to the best possible
quality of life’ (2.10). Similarly, the Government’s
vision for children’s services in England and Wales,
Every Child Matters (DfES, 2003), and the subsequent
Children Act 2004 established a responsibility for
children’s services agencies to not only ensure that at-
risk children come to no harm but also to be proactive
in ensuring that children have opportunities to
improve their well-being. This would be manifested in
the fiveoutcomes of health, safety, economic well-
being, enjoyment and achievement, and contribution
Assessing children’s quality
of life in health and social
services: meeting challenges
and adding value
Suzanne M Skevington1and Fiona B Gillison1
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