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In a recent American study, the decades from ages 20 to 59 were most frequently chosen to be the most satisfying. However, one third of the elderly evaluated a decade in old age to be the most satisfying (Field, 1996). The present study was undertaken to investigate whether this finding could be replicated in a larger, representative sample of elderly Danes. Four cohorts born with an interval of five years, 62 to 77 years old (N = 3207) were asked to point out the most and the least satisfying decades of life. The years from 30 to 39 were most frequently chosen as the most satisfying decade, followed by the adjoining decades. A decade in old age was chosen as the least satisfying by 24% of the participants, while only 8.5% of the participants evaluated old age as the most satisfying period of life. Further analyses were made to examine conditions related to evaluating the present decade as the most or the least satisfying.

Background. Health disparities between children from urban minority backgrounds and children from more affluent backgrounds are well-recognized. Few studies specifically address urban children's perceptions of their health-related quality of life (HRQOL) or the factors that contribute to these perceptions. Since schools are pivotal to children's intellectual, social, and emotional development, school connectedness may be a factor that contributes to their perception of HRQOL. Objective. To examine children's perceptions of HRQOL in an elementary school-based population of urban children. Methods. The study population consisted of 2nd, 3rd, and 5th graders from 6 urban kindergarten to 8th grade schools and their parents. Children completed a survey that included questions on HRQOL and school connectedness. Parents completed a telephone survey that assessed demographics, the child's health, health care usage, and parental health status. Data on school absences and mobility from the computerized school database were linked to survey data. Bivariate analyses were used to evaluate the association between child report of HRQOL and collected variables, including school connectedness. Multivariable linear regression was conducted to identify the factors best predicting HRQOL in these urban children. Results. Of the 1150 eligible students, parent and child survey data were available for 525 (45.6%). Fifty-one percent of students were male and 89% were black. Ninety-four percent of parents were female, 29% were married, and 62% had family incomes below $20 000 per year. The mean total score for HRQOL was 67.2, with a possible range of 0 to 100 (higher scores reflecting better HRQOL). In the multivariable analysis, child grade, the relationship of the "parent" to the child, employment, family income, type/presence of insurance, and school connectedness were significantly associated with the HRQOL total score. Conclusions. Young urban children self-report low HRQOL scores and do so as early as the 2nd grade. These low scores, which reflect children's own perceptions of impaired psychological and physical health, have potential implications for the success of urban children in their learning environments. The association between HRQOL and school connectedness might suggest that health and educational programs that improve a child's attachment to school could result in improved perceptions of health by urban children. Pediatrics 2003;111: 1372-1381; school health, underserved populations, health status., ABBREVIATIONS. HRQOL, health-related quality of life; CSDHP, Cincinnati School Health Demonstration Project; SF, short form. Health disparities between children from urban minority backgrounds and those from more affluent backgrounds are [...]

Advertising usually negatively affects how virtues develop. This can change when advertisers consider how a message agrees or disagrees with their moral values and when value discussions are made more prominent in cultural discourse.

Two studies examined folk concepts of the good life. Samples of college students (N = 104) and community adults (N = 264) were shown a career survey ostensibly completed by a person rating his or her occupation. After reading the survey, participants judged the desirability and moral goodness of the respondent's life, as a function of the amount of happiness, meaning in life, and wealth experienced. Results revealed significant effects of happiness and meaning on ratings of desirability and moral goodness. In the college sample, individuals high on all 3 independent variables were judged as likely to go to heaven. In the adult sample, wealth was also related to higher desirability. Results suggest a general perception that meaning in life and happiness are essential to the folk concept of the good life, whereas money is relatively unimportant.

A survey of kidney transplant patients investigated whether the patients would overestimate the benefits of the transplant in terms of the quality of life. Results indicate that the patients' overall quality of life was better after the transplant, however, the patients overestimated the extent of the improvement. The patients' memories on quality of life before the transplant are also studied.

Decisions about specific life-sustaining medical treatments have been found to be only moderately stable over time. This study examined whether more general judgments, such as whether a particular health condition is better or worse than death, would exhibit greater stability. Fifty adults (aged 65 yrs and older) made judgments about the perceived quality of life (QOL) possible in a number of hypothetical states of impaired health and their desire to live or die (LOD) in each state. Judgments were made twice from 5 to 16

A survey was conducted to find the satisfaction with Moscow as place to live taking all the possible factors into account. While 28 percent of Muscovites believe that Moscow is the best possible city in the existing world, 23 percent feel Moscow was the best possible city they could imagine living in five years ago from 2005, with 34 percent reporting that Moscow would be the best possible city to live in the near future.

A survey was conducted to know the views of Hispanics whether the quality of life for them has improved, remained same, or have become worse. The results indicated that on an average the Hispanics tend to be extremely positive about their quality of life in U.S.

In the face of severe resource constraints, health care systems are seeking both control costs and to ensure maximum benefits for the resources consumed. The use of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) is becoming more widely advocated as a decision aid in the solution of resource allocation problems. The QALY combines two dimensions of health outcome--the quantity of life and its quality--in such a way that choices between different services with different purposes can be made using comparisons based on common units of measurement. The combination of these two dimensions allows comparisons between services with different objectives, such as curing and caring services. The QALY, however, lacks a third dimension which is vital to the decision-making process to which it is intended to contribute: the worth of a specific life relative to others. This paper presents results suggest that further development of the novel methodology used to establish the relative value placed on various human lives is worthwhile. Evidence is given which indicates that the public consider lives to be of unequal worth. The results also show that these values are consistent for different types of choices phrased in different ways on a large number of control variables, implying the existence of a cultural stable value system which is a necessary prerequisite if consensus values of human life are to be used to assist decision-making in non-private health care systems. The paper suggests that it is right that the value system of those who pay for a group-funded health care system (such as the NHS) should guide choices between services. It is suggested that these choices are not the prerogative of professionals, whose view should carry no more weight than that of any other citizen. It is recognised that the suggestion that lives are not instrinsically of equal worth poses serious ethical problems for society, but the exploration of the value system of society, as advocated in this paper, may highlight issues which need further consideration.

A survey was conducted to assess people's time orientation or where they spend most of their thinking time: past, present or future. 100 women were also asked about their expectations for the quality of life in 20 to 30 yr. and about the odds of a large-scale nuclear war within 30 yr. Respondents thought almost twice as much about the present and future as the past. They rated the quality of life in 20 to 30 yr. as being the same as or slightly better than now. A nuclear war within 30 yr. was considered possible; religious orientation had a strong effect. No significant relationship was found between time orientation and future expectations.

Many patients have definite opinions about end-of-life care. Researchers in Ontario interviewed 48 dialysis patients, 40 HIV-infected people and 38 people in a long-term care facility. Most of the patients wanted to receive adequate treatment for pain and other symptoms. They did not want to prolong the dying process and wanted to have some control over their situation. They did not want to be a burden on their families but at the same time wanted to strengthen their relationships with loved ones.