ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the rationale for the introduction of the quality-of-life concept. Several factors have contributed to the ideological change. One of these factors is of course the technological development of medicine. Another crucial factor behind the medical discussion about quality of life was the anthropology adopted in much modern medicine. If one's life as a whole is characterized by the fact that one's most important goals are fulfilled or are in the process of becoming fulfilled, then this life is–with great probability–a life of great happiness. In public health and health care there is not only the ethical rule whereby staff shall seek to achieve the general objectives of care, health and health-related quality of life. Staff should of course show general compassion and attempt to reduce a person's suffering even if this has nothing directly to do with medicine or, in the strictest sense, nursing.
