Perspective Chapter: Quality of Life (QoL) Calculations and Interventions across Divergent Societies

*Sage Arbor, Tafline Arbor and Linda Berg-Cross*

## **Abstract**

Before the industrial revolution, living standards largely hinged on population size. With the advent of the industrial age, technological progress became the main influencer. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) initially served as a primary indicator of national well-being, tying economic growth directly to overall quality of life (QoL). Nevertheless, GDP falls short in encompassing diverse elements of QoL, such as environmental health, personal well-being, and cultural richness. Contemporary QoL indicators now encompass life expectancy, mortality rates, and satisfaction surveys. Depending on a nation's GDP, QoL strategies vary. Lower-income countries benefit more from cost-effective public health measures, while affluent nations can invest in sophisticated biomedical research and comprehensive mental health care. The success of these interventions largely rests on the unique economic, political, and cultural landscapes of each nation. Therefore, monitoring these metrics at the national level and customizing interventions will optimize improvements in well-being.

**Keywords:** quality of life, Well-being, GDP, health, interventions, economic growth, environment, mental health, culture, life expectancy

#### **1. Introduction**

Prior to the industrial revolution, living standards were largely determined by the size of the population. With the industrial revolution, living standards became more dependent on the distribution and utilization of technological advances. In modern times, the first big global economic indicator of national well being was Gross Domestic Product (GDP) [1]. The GDP originally was a conceptual proxy that equated economic growth with national well being. It is generally defined as a measure of the total production of a region or country, the monetary value that can be assigned to all goods and services produced within a specified time period. The major methodological flaws of GDP originally was that it is difficult to equate the different prices, quality, and currencies across regions.

The first big global health indicator of national well being was mortality. In 1950, the United Nations published estimates of mortality rates and data on causes of


#### **Figure 1.**

*Edelman trust barometer (2022).*

death for member states. These were sometimes close to wild guestimates since many regions of the world did not have any organized data systems on mortality. At the same time, the United Nations, listed the reasons for mortality in each region, but these data were even more suspect due to lack of diagnoses coupled with poor to no organized mortality statistics in the many pre-industrial countries [2].

Since QoL can be defined differently by groups or people there are various methods used to calculate it. Some collect survey information from citizens to measure how people feel their future in their country will be, such as the Edelman Trust barometer (**Figure 1**). These survey metrics can be useful to cut through stereotypes. For example, in the 2022 Edelman Trust barometer index the top 6 countries from first to fifths were: China, UAE, Indonesia, India, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia while more developed countries often thought of as trusted were Netherlands, Canada, France, Germany, and United States. See **Figure 1** for details about what subcategories went into those trust rankings. This chapter however, will focus more on metric calculations of QoL instead of survey data.

While the years of life (Quantity) have greatly increased over the last 60 years, the fraction of those years spent in moderate health has not changed. From 1960 to 2019 life expectancy increased from 54 to 73 years respectively while the fraction of one's life spent in moderate health has remained at 50% [3]. This paper will review both

*Perspective Chapter: Quality of Life (QoL) Calculations and Interventions across Divergent… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113316*

biological & mental health, economic, environmental, and societal/cultural aspects of quality of life (QoL) across societies.
