title: Interventions to enhance the Quality of Life of older people in residential long-term care: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In residential long-term care (LTC), a growing interest exists in the older residents' Quality of Life (QoL). The Active Ageing-concept (AA) extended this focus, since AA has the aim to enhance QoL by optimising the opportunities for health, participation and security. In LTCs, AA can be outlined by 9 determinants. This systematic review aimed at identifying interventions to improve the QoL of LTC-residents. These interventions were organised according to the AA-determinants.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Web of Science, Psychinfo and Sociological Abstracts were screened systematically. Articles were excluded when they only concerned a specific group of LTC-residents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty five relevant articles, encompassing 3910 subjects were found. These concerned interventions concentrating on one or more of the 9 AA-determinants. The largest proportion of interventions regarded the physical activity level or the psychological factors of the residents. Overall, no systematic effects on QoL could be found and a low methodological quality was generally present.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Currently, studies aimed at enhancing the QoL of older LTC-resident are limited and often directed to physical and psychological interventions. The lack of a systematic effect on QoL is possibly related to the fact that these interventions were often not multidimensional, whereas QoL is a multidimensional concept.
authors.affiliation: Frailty in Ageing Research Group & Gerontology Department, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. Lien.van.malderen@vub.ac.be
authors.forename: Lien
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Malderen
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mets
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gorus
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D058996:Quality Improvement; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012107:Research Design; D012112:Residential Facilities; D012114:Residential Treatment / Q000379:methods*