Quality of life considered as well-being: views from philosophy and palliative care practice.
The main measure of quality of life is well-being. The aim of this article is to compare insights about well-being from contemporary philosophy with the practice-related opinions of palliative care professionals. In the first part of the paper two philosophical theories on well-being are introduced: Sumner's theory of authentic happiness and Griffin's theory of prudential perfectionism. The second part presents opinions derived from interviews with 19 professional palliative caregivers. Both the well-being of patients and the well-being of the carers themselves are considered in this empirical exploration. In the third part the attention shifts from the description of "well-being" to prescriptions for the promotion of well-being. Our interview data are analysed in light of the theories of Sumner and Griffin for clues to the promotion of "well-being." The analysis (1) underscores the subject-relativity of well-being, (2) points out that values that are considered important in every life still seem to be relevant (at least in palliative care practice), and (3) shows the importance of living a certain sort of life when aiming to enhance dying patients' well-being.
Olthuis
Gert
G
Department of Ethics, Philosophy and History of Medicine, Radboud University, Nijmegen Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9101, 6500, Nijmegen, HB, The Netherlands. g.olthuis@efg.umcn.nl
Dekkers
Wim
W
D006801:Humans; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D011788:Quality of Life