Quality of Life of Persons with Dementia: Different Disciplinary Perspectives

To evaluate psychological and psychosocial interventions or to decide whether it is cost-effective to reimburse specific therapies or medicines, one needs a measure of the quality of life of the persons with dementia. A large battery of specific dementia scales is available that can be used to evaluate psychological and psychosocial interventions, while cost-effectiveness is usually analysed with generic QALY-type health measures. The choice between these various measures cannot be made only on statistical or technical grounds because it has crucial ethical implications. Different measures of QoL reflect different fundamental perspectives on what makes a good life