Develop a Culturally Valid Quality of Life Measure for Vietnam

This project will develop a preference-based quality of life measure for Vietnamese people who live with dementia. It will directly inform national policies and guidelines about the quality of life priorities, and the minimum quality of life data collection for trials and studies conducted in Vietnam. It will enable the calculation of quality adjusted life years and the assessment of economic values of care programs and interventions for people with dementia. The project will use a mixed-method approach and follow a recommended process for health preference research to achieve two aims. First, using a series of focus groups to identify what matters most to people living with dementia when it comes to quality of life. Second, using a discrete choice experiment to quantify the quality of life priorities by people living with dementia through a preference-based measure for Vietnam. Once developed, the quality of life instrument will enable Vietnamese people who live with dementia, for the first time, to express their quality of life priorities. This will change public awareness and discussion about dementia and appropriate care for people with dementia in the community. This will inform the quality of life data collection for trials and studies conducted in Vietnam. The instrument will enable the calculations of quality adjusted life years and the evaluation of economic values of dementia interventions. The project outcomes will become the foundation for future studies on how culture and language influence quality of life measurement. It will be the first of many cross-cultural adaptations in quality of life measurement studies that improve the understanding of how services, care arrangement and public funding can be directed toward activities and factors that improve quality of life for those living with dementia from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.