Research ArticleOpen Access

Qualitative Inquiry into Quality of Life among Older Adults in Bhutan

Volume 5 - Issue 4

**Nidup Dorji¹*, Michael P Dunne², Charrlotte Seib³ and Sibnath Deb⁴**

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- ¹Faculty of Nursing and Public Health, Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan, Bhutan
- ²School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
- ³School of Nursing, Griffith University, Australia
- ⁴Department of Applied Psychology, Pondicherry University, India
*Corresponding author: Nidup Dorji, Faculty of Nursing and Public Health, Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan, Bhutan

Received: June 04, 2018; Published: June 19, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.05.001244

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Abstract

A considerable amount of international research into Quality of Life (QOL) seeks to explain the determinants of health and well-being as we age. Many older adults in Bhutan continue to live traditionally in socially integrated Buddhist communities. Popular understanding of health and QOL to some extent could be different from western populations. This qualitative study employed in-depth interviews with 30 older adults (aged 60 to 83 years). Content analysis generated key themes. Finding indicated most older participants experience good QOL. Close family integration and interpersonal harmony, respect for the older people, spirituality, chronic health conditions and adverse childhood experiences, lack of education, insufficient income, and changes in the sources of practical help in the community influenced QOL. Further research is needed to systematically examine the relative contribution of various factors to health and QOL among elderly people in Bhutan and similar communities.

Keywords: Bhutan; Quality of Life; Older Adults; Well-being