QUALITY FAMILY LIFE
The Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL) is a 25-item inventory rate on a 5 point Likert-type scale. It’s purpose is to measure several aspects of families’ perceived satisfaction in terms of quality of family life. Family quality of life is measured under five domains: Family Interaction, Parenting, Emotional Well-being, Physical / Material Well-being, and Disability-Related Support.
BACKGROUND
Quality of life has received much attention in recent years as a method of determining general well-being. Consequently, a wide range of tools now exist measuring quality of life in a variety of ways. However, family quality of life has received not nearly the same level of attention despite its crucial role in shaping our young lives. For this reason, the Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL) was developed by (Hu, Summers, Turnbull, & Zuna, 2011).
6 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE:
These little changes can have a lasting and positive effect on your long-term mental health and outlook on life. Here are 6 easy ways to improve your quality of life.
Sometimes, life can be overwhelming. Whether it is a complicated personal life, a frustrating career, or just dealing with the stresses of being a functioning human being in the 21st century, it can all be a bit much to deal with. That is why it is important to take time to make small adjustments to improve your quality of life. These little changes can have a lasting and positive effect on your long-term mental health and outlook on life. Here are 8 easy ways to improve your quality of life.
1. Smile Any Negative Feelings Away;
The simple act of smiling can drastically change the way you feel at any given time. Smiling can prompt your body to alter the neurochemistry of the brain, resulting in a sunnier disposition. Numerous studies have shown smiling reduces stress, regardless if the smile is genuinely caused by positive emotions. So if you are feeling down, turn that frown upside down and put a smile on your face!
2. Be Grateful For What You Have
Too often, it can become easy to get caught up in what we don’t have, be it lamenting a lack of a fulfilling career, a luxurious lifestyle, or a successful relationship. However, instead of spending all of that mental energy on what you don’t have, instead celebrate what you do have. We are all blessed with so many gifts to be grateful for, so try to create a list of all the things you are grateful for each and every day. It can be something as major as good health to something as minor as somebody holding a door open for you. Be mindful of how amazing life truly is.
3.Try to Learn Something New Everyday;
Make each day part of a perpetual quest for knowledge. Learning is an essential component of happiness, satisfying our minds need for stimulation and to be challenged. It also can help put our lives in perspective as we gain knowledge about all of the trauma occurring around the world. Go online and find an interesting article, how-to video, documentary or something else that will challenge you and try to spend at least 15 minutes a day gaining knowledge. You will find yourself quickly becoming a well-informed, well-rounded and happier individual.
4. Stay Active;
When people think of physical health, they often think solely of exercise and a healthy diet. However, there is a third crucial component to getting in amazing shape, and that is daily activity. As more and more jobs have become stationary desk jobs, it is recommended to make an effort to walk 10,000 steps each and every day. Try parking in the back of the parking lot, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or walking to the local coffee shop instead of driving. These little steps can help you get in great shape, but also can result in an improved mood and quality of life.
5. Get the Rest Your Body Needs;
It is absolutely essential to give your body the time it needs to recharge the batteries each and every night, and getting a full night of sleep is a big part of living a happy and healthy life. Studies have found that getting adequate sleep can help you live longer, improve your memory, and increase awareness and creativity. Experts recommend at least 7 hours of sleep each night, and any less than that can result in a bad mood and low energy levels.
6. Organize Your House and Mind;
A cluttered home can lead to a cluttered mind. Take a few minutes out of your day to straighten up your surroundings. That doesn’t mean deep cleaning every nook and cranny of your house. Simply make an effort to pick clothing up off the floor, make your bed, clean your dishes, and live a tidy life. Creating these habits can have a broad effect on your outlook on life, helping you to have a clear mind and become more focused on important tasks at hand.
Improve Your Quality of Life By Treating Mental Health Disorders.
If you struggle with a mental health disorder that impacts your quality of life, one of the best things you can do is seek treatment. Treating a mental health disorder with mental health professionals can lead to a healthier and happier outlook on life.
QUALITIES OF A HEALTHY FAMILY
Healthy families have variety of traits that provide well-being.
Researchers across the country and around the world have found that strong families have a wide variety of qualities that contribute to a family’s well-being. These traits have been found across all racial, social and economic groups as wells as in families across the globe. Strong families are not families without problems. Functional families are not, simply, the opposite of dysfunctional families. All families face challenges, but some families are better equipped to deal with them than others.
The first step in developing the strengths of one’s family is to consider those areas in which the family is doing well and areas the family members would like to improve.
Six Qualities That Researchers Have Identified As Indicators Of A Strong Family:
Appreciation and affection – they help each other, keep promises, and show affection to each other.
Committed – Strong families are very loyal to each other, share responsibilities, make decisions together, allow members to make their own decisions with support, and find it easy to trust one another.
Positive communication -Families that eat together regularly communicate (as long as the phones and TVs are turn off). They like to share feeling with each other and cue into each other’s feelings. Put downs and sarcasm is rare.
Strong coping skills – Families with healthy well-being tend to be resilient. Crisis brings them closer together and they are supportive of one another. They look for something good from a bad situation and tend to accept the things they cannot change.
Healthy spiritual well-being – It is easy for them to share spiritual values and beliefs with each other. Positive attitude is the norm and they have a sense of peace.
Spending time together -There is shared common interest with strong families. They have lots of fun together and often laughter is plentiful. Unplanned spontaneous activities together are common.
All these family strengths are connected, overlap to some degree, and interact with each other. These family strengths become interwove like a big ball of string collected over time. The more families practices the traits, the more resilient they will be.
As a family, take the time to review these six characteristics and identify strengths as well as weaknesses. Create a plan to work on the areas you would like to improve and begin to reap the wonderful benefits.
Why Is Family Important? 9 Reasons It Benefits Us (and Society).
Families are important to individuals for several key reasons. The definition of family seems to change with the times, but it usually includes a group of people related to each other and/or living together. Like many healthy social relationships, strong bonds with family members can have great benefits for society and individuals.
WHY ARE FAMILIES IMPORTANT TO INDIVIDUALS
Family support is important to individuals for various reasons, most of which are related to one’s personal well-being. Family is crucial to people because it can benefit a person’s physical, emotional, and mental health, and what it offers human beings can’t be found anywhere else.
Family Improves Overall Well-Being for Individuals;
Staying close to your family might actually benefit your health. A Harvard study looked at people’s relationships, including those with family, and discovered that the individuals who valued family and friends and developed those ever-important bonds and connections experienced better health throughout their lives. Staying isolated can increase a person’s chances of declining health in middle-age and later years.
Families Provide Personal Stress Relief;
Family ties have been shown to provide stress relief by boosting self-esteem and lessening anxiety, especially for young people who have been exposed to violence. This strong bond can act as a protective shield and offers a sense of belonging in troubling times. Studies further illustrate that those people with strong family ties better develop mechanisms to help them better cope with the stresses that life throws their way.
Family Meals Contribute to Healthy Diets;
The benefits of eating as a family are plenty, and one of those benefits is improved diets for family members. Across all ages, families who eat meals together have healthier diets that include eating breakfast, ample fruits and vegetables, and fewer processed foods. These healthy food choices create a foundation that lasts up to five years later for teens. Grandparents who eat alone are more likely to skip meals and eat foods with decreased nutritional values, so family meal-time is important in every generation.
Early Family Bonds Help Regulate Personal Emotions;
Children who experience healthy family relationships at a young age show more control and regulation of their emotions when they’re older, reports Sage Journals. People who have more control over regulating their emotions are self-aware and able to deal with feelings of any kind in appropriate and healthy ways.
Family Closeness Helps People Live Longer;
In a long-term study, researchers found adults with no close relationships to family members other than a spouse were about twice as likely to die as adults with close family relationships. Results from the study also showed that many strong family ties were more beneficial than a few strong family relationships, and family bonds lengthened life more than friendship bonds. It seems there’s something specifically special about family members that makes people feel supported and happy in a way no other person can.
WHY ARE FAMILIES IMPORTANT TO THE SOCIETY
The importance of family in modern society is evident when you examine research about topics like crime, the economy, and social services. The important thing to remember is that family type isn’t as important as the stability of the family unit.
Family Ties Help Regulate the Economy;
Families who share strong bonds tend to prefer living situations where they can remain close in proximity. This contributes to more regulated jobs and wages because families who stay together want a job market with security and fair wages so they won’t have to move away. Labor markets are often dictated at their core by the workforce in the area.
Bigger Families Mean More Economic Prosperity;
Large families are major economic contributors. From insurance to Costco runs, clans packed with people are by nature big spenders. Furthermore, families with droves of kids are producing droves of future adults, which will be needed to sustain the economic balance as aging populations leave the workforce. Smaller families will result in smaller numbers of economically contributing adults, while the aging population continues to be large and in need of economic support, hence tipping the scales of economic balance.
Family Interactions Help Prevent Crime in Society;
A recent review of research shows that prisoners who visit with family members have a 40 percent lower chance of becoming a repeat offender compared to those with no family visits. Unconditionally supportive relationships in great times of need or change can help people get through tough times. Those who have made bad choices and continue to receive emotional support from family maintain a sense of worth and have something in life to keep them motivated.
Family Values Influence Voting Behavior;
You’ve heard that kids model the behavior of their parents, and modeling is one of the strongest tools parents have. But did you know that childhood family values can last long into adulthood? Political experts agree that families who take their kids to the polls and discuss why they vote with their kids likely contribute to voter turnout in the future. Kids who watched their parents vote in elections were more likely to view this act as a duty of their citizenship, regardless of their affiliated political party.
The Importance of Your Family;
Healthy family bonds and relationships give people a sense of belonging and help keep everyone balanced in life. Whether you’re writing an essay about why family is important, or analyzing your own life, take a look at your family and think about all the ways they enhance your existence.
FOUR TRAITS OF A HEALTHY FAMILY
What makes a family a healthy family?
A healthy family is comprised of the same qualities that are necessary in any healthy relationship, which are; Attunement, Attachment, Tracking and Connection. Without those four things, bonds cannot stay strong. Any healthy family has to start with the strength of their bonds, connection and communication.The material aspects of a family, such as overall wealth, fall far behind in importance to these more complex details. With all the challenges of rural living, and high divorce rates, and blended families, there is a lot that goes into keeping these four traits front and center in our relationships and families. Sometimes it can be overwhelming for parents to try to meet all the needs of their kids and also their own needs. At Northeast Kingdom Human Services, we recognize that the emotional components of families are the most important aspects of keeping kids on track to grow into healthy and successful adults with their own healthy families. As stigma around mental health is finally beginning to life, it is becoming easier to shine the light on emotional traits that set all families up for happiness and success in life overall.The more secure a child feels in their family, the lower the risk of turning to drugs and other dangerous and destructive behaviors.
Attunement– What is attunement?
Simply put, when you tune in, put aside all your distractions and have a conversation and enjoy the present company of your family. In this day and age, with phones and screens and social media, it is hard to make time for face-to-face conversations where each person actively listens to what the others saying. In a family, a good time to do this is at dinner, or at breakfast in the morning. Life is busy and it is hard to make the time, but every day, having a conversation with your children, or as a whole family unit that allows each person to have a voice and feel valued, is an important trait in keeping families bonded together.
Attachment-What is attachment?
Attachment is being committed to repairing damage to relationships. Being respectful in the face of conflict, creates trust and attachment. Take the time and initiative to listen to differing points of view and making it a safe space to disagree. Learn how to put personal opinions aside while you are listening, and come at disagreements with the intent of truly working it out rather than being “right” or trying to prove anyone else “wrong”. Facts are less important that the feelings, because you can sort the facts out later. The more families learn how to disagree and compromise and come together anyway, the more attachment there will be.
Tracking-What is tracking?
Tracking is paying attention to the details of what is happening with other members of you family and remembering to ask them about those things. Following up after a particularly stressful day, and being ready to actually listen for a while. With tracking, comes the ability to encourage emotions, rather than discourage them. Tracking allows for family members to feel attended to, cared for, and considered.
Connection-What is Connection?
Healthy families say things every day just to make each person feel special. Building each other up, and creating that culture, is very important in a healthy family. Remembering to highlight the qualities that make each person unique is a powerful way to build trust and connection. Talking about what makes your family special as a whole is also an important practice to infuse into daily life.
It is easy to fall into the daily grind of life and forget to slow down and appreciate the simple good in each of us. When we stay focused on what’s not going well that is when what is positive is often overlooked. Kids are in need of encouragement, and without it can easily lose faith in themselves. We all must work at building each other up, through attunement, attachment, tracking and connection. The earlier those concepts are introduced and practiced in all families, the happier and more secure a family can be.