Lewenskwaliteit in biomediese konteks : filosofies-etiese ondersoek
Date
2006-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : University of Stellenbosch
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Every individual has a mental image of what a ‘good’ life entails. Whether this
idea of a good life is based on hedonist, preference satisfaction or ideal
theories, or a combination of these theories, it forms the underlying framework
that indicates and measures how well or how poorly we are doing. The smaller
the discrepancy between these suppositions we nurture and our real
circumstances, the greater the degree of wellbeing and satisfaction we
experience. This satisfaction with our lives can be indicated on objective and
subjective scales, and these serve as a direct reflection of our quality of life.
In addition to self experienced quality of life, quality of life is also seen as the aim
of health care. However, as the World Health Organization (WHO) sketches an
almost utopian view of health, the field is deemed to be so wide that it includes
man in his totality. This state of total psychological, physical and social welfare is
further seen as a primary or basic necessity to which everyone is entitled. Human
welfare, or quality of life, viewed from a healthcare perspective, serves as the
criterion for substantiating, informing and guiding health care. Not only are
choices regarding the type and degree of intervention in the therapeutic situation
guided by this, but quality of life is also regarded as the single cut-off point for
determining whether continued existence would be better or worse than not
existing at all.
A further outcome of quality of life is the use of QALYs (quality-adjusted life
years) and TTO (Time trade-off). These instruments are designed to determine
the net efficiency of therapeutic intervention by combining two dimensions,
namely quality and quantity of life. Quality of life and [healthy] lifespan are
therefore combined in a single framework of value assessment, and this
framework is applied as the main criterion for allocating limited resources. This
application of quality of life has been adjusted to serve as the main measure for
determining the value of a life.
In this study quality of life will critically be investigated with the focus on self
experienced quality of life; quality of life as the aim of health care; and quality of
life as the determining factor to place a value on a human life. The study
indicates that the concept of quality of life had to undergo a natural and
unavoidable development and expansion to keep pace with the changed medical
ethos of our times. The writer indicates that the transformation of quality of life as
the aim of healthcare to quality of life as the factor for determining the value of a
life is currently ethically unacceptable in its application. Finally, a more
acceptable development that includes referred competition and social
responsibility is suggested.
Description
Thesis (MPhil (Philosophy))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
Keywords
Quality of life -- Moral and ethical aspects, Healthcare, Biomedical ethics, Dissertations -- Philosophy, Theses -- Philosophy, Longevity -- Moral and ethical aspects, Quality-adjusted life years, Time trade-off, Dissertations -- Applied ethics, Theses -- Applied ethics, Assignments -- Applied ethics