Improving the Quality of Life - Essay Example

Instruction: Task: Improving the quality of life. Many community development efforts involve assessment of the quality of life indicators, and the development of action plans to improve neighborhoods for the individuals and families that reside within them. An ongoing challenge of community development initiatives is sustaining implementation of improvements when human and financial resources are constrained and expended quickly. There are several factors which should be put into consideration when improving the quality of life. The categories that are most pertinent to quality of life from both societal and personal perspective include a working government, health, work , education, remote access through communication and transport systems, recreation, protection, and provisions, such as food, housing, and clothing. This essay will look into the different methods of improving quality of life in a society. In improving the quality of life, one needs to move beyond identifying indicators of qualities of life and identify specific improvements that need to be made. The quality of life will be improved by finding treatments to effect needed improvements than continuing to expand the vast list of quality of life indicators. The guidelines for improving the quality of life in a society specify particular improvements that are frequently needed to make a society a better place to live. Indicators of improvement are normative to reflect general living conditions in a society. For example, in the category of education, increasing the literacy rate in a society might be an index of improved education. Increasing the number of teachers per capita, might be a proposed treatment to reduce the illiteracy rate. In improving the quality of life, an effort should be made to identify basic improvements that are needed in each of the eight categories and to infer reasonable treatments to achieve the improvements (Friedman 64). Government is an overriding factor in a society because the laws that are enacted or proclaimed and enforced determine to a great extent other factors such as education, protection, and health. There should be free choice, or civil liberty, and this is one of the indicators of quality of life in nations. People should be given freedom to choose their own leaders, and the freedom must be promoted realistically. An increase in freedom is an improvement in the quality of life but this freedom should be within limits. The goal and the challenge should be to achieve a delicate balance between laws that ensures personal autonomy and laws that promote the common good. Sometimes the two often conflict. When the scale tips too far in favor of the common good, people may have to sacrifice fulfillment of their personal aspirations and find whatever satisfaction they can by pursuing imposed societal objectives. This tends to pall in totalitarian, socialist, and communist societies. On the other hand, neglecting the common good to increase personal autonomy engenders over permissiveness, which undermines the foundation of society and the security of its people. Force and fraud must be minimized to maintain government, commerce, and personal freedom. Laws must be enforced to protect people from being coerced by physical force and the lies of others for government, commerce, personal freedom, and domestic tranquility to be tenable (Vitale 17). For quality of life in a society there should be freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion. Free enterprise should be lauded in raising the standard of living in societies. Free enterprise does increase productivity and abundance, but it also increases exploitation and turmoil, too. In contrast, socialism and communism provide welfare for the needy and tend to subdue violence, because when more people work for the common good, there seems to be less upheaval. But socialism and communism do not promote productivity, as free enterprise does. Political opportunity is necessary to maintain a democratic government. To maintain democracy, there must be political opportunity to vote, to conduct honest elections, and to run for government office and for minority groups to influence people and government. The general guidelines for devising treatments that include enacting and enforcing laws that ensure political opportunity and free choice without unduly sacrificing the common good should be put in place (Steel 39). Health is a second factor, which, in improving the quality of life more emphasis should be put. Four variables that must be put into consideration include longevity, absence of controllable ailments, mental stability, and functional ability. Health care treatments needed to improve health in a society including increasing the number of health care professionals should be put in place. The right mix of medical specialists and general practitioners, plus nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and vocational counselors, should be attained. In additional, hospital and nursing care beds should be increased and located in central places to serve more people. There should be no problems in delivering available medical care to people, especially those who live in city slums and rural areas. Health care professionals in all fields must be provided advanced, modern facilities, equipment, and medications. In addition, it is the obligation of the society to control environmental pollution that jeopardizes health (Frisch 91). In order to advance the quality of life, societies must make it possible for their citizens to reap more for their work. Another improvement that should be effected for quality life is reducing the unemployment rate by creating more job opportunities. People must be employed to have any purchasing power at all. High-tech manufacturing and services and the number of businesses in a society should be increased. High-tech manufacturing and services will create higher-paying jobs. On the other hand increasing the number of businesses in a society will increase both the number of employers and the number of employment opportunities. This, in turn, will decrease the unemployment rate. Unemployed people have no purchasing power and become societal wards. The government should also put in place strategies that will keep inflation in control. Education is a means by which societies perpetuate themselves. The percentage of the population that is educated should be improved. This requires that children who start schooling at a young age and stay in school until they receive a certificate attesting that they are prepared for their social responsibility and gainful employment should be increased. The average level of education of the citizenry needs should be elevated; this is because many occupations crucial to the quality of life in the society require advanced education, for example, the training of doctors, engineers, and research scientists. Strategies that ensure students should not leave school until they are literate and employable should be put in place. Treatments required to attain the education improvements including increasing the number of teachers employed per capita should be put in place that in turn will lead to decrease in the student/teacher ratio. The number of libraries, as well as, access, which is an important factor in improving education should be elevated (Friedman 68). Transport and communication should be improved. Treatment to improvement of communication should be put in place including increasing the availability of communication devices to the citizenry, such as phones, computers, fax machines, postal services, and newspapers. The number of vehicles, the shipping facilities, and public transportation available to the citizens should be increased in order to reduce the cost of travel and shipping merchandise thus improving the quality of life. Engaging in games, sports, arts, and crafts, both as a participant and as a spectator, brings enjoyment to people and provides respite from work and tense social relations. Treatment to improve involvement in recreation entails increasing the number of recreation facilities and opportunities available to the public, such as parks, television and radio stations, tournaments, museums, and art galleries. The government should also protect its citizens from criminals within the society and from foreign enemies. People who do not feel safe have difficulty working, learning, and maintaining amiable social relations. A decrease in the crime rate as well as in foreign incursions reflects improved protection. Treatment to improve the provisions people acquire including instruction on cost, quality, and availability of products, services, and housing should be put into consideration. Although identifying improvements that need to be achieved is necessary to improve the quality of life, it is not sufficient. Treatments that will bring about the improvements must be determined as well in order to improve the quality of life of people in a given society. Works cited Friedman, Myles I. Improving the Quality of Life: A Holistic Scientific Strategy. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1997. Print. Frisch, Michael B. Quality of Life Therapy: Applying a Life Satisfaction Approach to Positive Psychology and Cognitive Therapy. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons, 2006. Internet resource. Sirgy, M J, and Rhonda Phillips. Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases Iv. Dordrecht: Springer, 2009. Print. Steele, Brian D. Thomas Jefferson and American Nationhood. , 2012. Print. Vitale, Alex S. City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics. New York, N.Y: New York University Press, 2008. Internet resource. Read More