Family Quality of Life in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

There is a critical need to create a reliable, relevant, and culturally appropriate measure of Family Quality of Life (FQOL) in order to evaluate family outcomes and related national family support mechanisms in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This study explores Congolese conceptions of FQOL and examines the appropriateness of adapting a common FQOL measurement tool for use in a Congolese context. Data are derived from four focus groups, conducted with 21 family members of persons with disabilities and 2 family advocates in Kinshasa, DRC. Participant conceptions of FQOL were highly similar to common understandings of FQOL globally. Participant discourse identified poverty and resiliency as potentially crucial underlying factors in FQOL in the DRC. FQOL is an important concept to measure in the DRC. Measurement must take poverty and resiliency into consideration.