This study illuminates how adults with intellectual disabilities understand and describe their everyday life and its shortcomings when it comes to equal rights in the context of Norwegian community living. An inclusive research design, including nine persons with mild intellectual disability, two university researchers and two intellectual…

This article presents the framework of a dynamic approach to quality of life (QOL) enhancement based on the conceptualization and measurement of individual-referenced quality of life. Sections of the article summarize the premises of QOL enhancement, provide the rationale for a dynamic approach to QOL enhancement, discuss six components of QOL…

Buffer Schools, an emerging Thai border school policy, was first launched in 2010 to response to ASEAN initiatives. Buffer Schools aim to establish close cooperation among neighbour countries, thereby creating a sense of historical and cultural connection that can nurture unity and confraternity in the region. This paper examines the effectiveness…

Civic participation, initiative and interest in current events can bridge the alienation felt towards national and municipal institutions, thereby enabling individuals to improve their quality of life and contribute to all-round sustainable development of their resident state. This paper reports on a participatory action research study into civic…

Aging of the U.S. population raises numerous public policy issues about which gerontological researchers, policy experts, and practitioners have much to contribute. However, the means by which aging-related public policy is influenced are not always apparent. Drawing on experience working in the U.S. Senate and other settings as Health and Aging…

Since the remarkable work of Pierre Bourdieu, the concept of cultural capital has gained wide popularity along with theoretical and conceptual debates. This trend represents the social-structural change from materialism to postmaterialism. However, there are few empirical studies which find the cause and effect of cultural capital. Based on…

There is a growing interest in quality of life as an integrated approach to addressing key social, environmental and economic determinants of health. The University of Saskatchewan's Community-University Institute for Social Research, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (grant #410-2004-0669) has examined the process and…

The Consumer-Directed Theory of Empowerment (CDTE) is presented as a model for guiding the development and evaluation of disability policy and rehabilitation services. The major tenet of CDTE is that increased consumer direction in disability policy formulation and rehabilitation service delivery will lead to increased community integration,…

Current governmental policy regarding long-term care of the elderly relies heavily on a medical-model approach that stresses institutionalization. This policy must be redirected to encourage development of viable alternative programs and to support the traditional role of families in caring for their dependent aged members. (Author)

Recognizes book publishing as both a business and an art and argues that its value needs to be recognized, particularly in developing countries. (HOD)

This article discusses aspects of the concept of quality of life that impact on policy development and habilitation services for persons with intellectual disability. The article contends that quality of life should not be viewed as an individual score for a person but in the larger context of a guiding principle that underlies the development,…

The study of the relationship between satisfaction and spending preferences among 522 community leaders and 926 household residents in 8 rural Alabama counties indicated that generally higher levels of satisfaction were found among community residents; but, with some exceptions, leaders tended to prefer more spending on community services. (NQA)

A survey of approximately 300 U.S. rural development officials indicates that rural-based officials often had a greater appreciation of rural environmental quality of life features than did their urban-based counterparts. Suggests decentralizing rural development policy formation to the communities affected. (SV)

Characteristics of population and economic measures as traditional social indicators are compared to more recent quality of life measures to demonstrate that social indicators are value statements at the policy level. Alternative perspectives are illustrated and the importance of assumptions implicit in a given indicator is discussed. (Author/MH)

Discusses the importance of competitiveness to the American economy and examines three areas where federal information policies affect American competitiveness: providing the private sector with technical information; making federal information resources available to industry; and restricting foreign access to those resources. For each area,…