Background: A need exists, consistent with a person-centred approach to dementia care, to facilitate collaborative approaches to the assessment of quality of life.
Aims and objectives: To examine the concept of quality of life, to make the case for its centrality in dementia care provision and to consider the validity and reliability of one tool (Quality of Life in Alzheimer's Disease Scale, QOL-AD).
Conclusions: The use of the QOL-AD aligns with person-centred principles incorporating the subjective viewpoint of the person with dementia, thereby promoting a collaborative and inclusive approach to the measurement of the concept of quality of life.
Relevance to clinical practice: Utilization of QOL-AD in clinical practice facilitates a user-centred and collaborative approach to the assessment of quality of life. This approach is in keeping with contemporaneous forces in health and social care delivery for people with dementia.