I am Dr Rima AL Garni, Assistant Professor at the College of Nursing in Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Saudi Arabia. I hold the position of Vice Dean for Quality, Development and Community Service at the College of Nursing. I studied nursing and was honoured a bachelor’s degree in nursing science in 2001 and was employed in King Faisal University as a clinical instructor guiding students during their clinical training. I started to build my knowledge in Quality of Life (QoL) research during my master studies when I searched the Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of patients with End stage Renal Disease undergoing haemodialysis. During my master education I had a rotation in the dialysis unit and when I was talking to one of the patients undergoing haemodialysis, I felt that there is something that could relate all the patient’s physiological, psychological, social and economic complains all in one concept that could be assessed and quantified. During my literature search, I was introduced to a paper by Anderson and Burckhardt (1999)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10197928

That paper introduced me to the concept of QoL as I started to read and further explore the concept.

Four years later, I started my PhD studies and started to conduct a mixed-methods study to explore the concept of HRQoL as perceived by patients with End stage Renal Disease undergoing haemodialysis. As an initial step to understand the meaning of the concept of HRQoL from a Saudi perspective. During that study, I conducted literature reviews that revealed the gap in the literature about the definition and conceptualisation of the concept of HRQoL in the Saudi literature. Additionally, it was found that research studies assessing the QoL of patients with different illnesses were conducted in Saudi Arabia, however, the QoL measuring instruments that were utilised were Western and might have revealed results of questionable validity. This literature gap pulled my attention to initially understand the actual meaning and key domains of HRQoL from the Saudi perspective, then to develop/adapt a HRQoL instrument that is culturally adapted to the Saudi context. The initial qualitative study revealed interesting findings that defined the concept when compared and contrasted with the Western conceptualisation of QoL. I was able to link different variables and identify indicators of each domain. One of the important findings was the gender variation in defining the concept and the apparent difference between men and women in Saudi Arabia in terms of their concerns and what was considered important and affecting the quality of their lives. Additionally, was the domination of the social and cultural perspectives and their apparent effect on the conceptualisation of QoL. I completed my PhD in 2015 and returned to work as an assistant professor at the College of Nursing teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In addition to teaching, I am conducting research as one of the duties of the academicians and to fulfil my research interest as well. I am currently building my research group to develop/adapt a QoL instrument for patients with renal failure on haemodialysis that is culturally adapted to the Saudi context.           

I was attracted to the field of quality-of-life studies as it is one of the concepts that is not given a priority in healthcare. Most healthcare interventions target measurable outcomes that deal with the survival of patients and freedom of illness complications. QoL as an outcome measure was not considered a priority in healthcare, it is not even measured as a patient reported outcome measure (PROM) or even utilised in decision making and planning for healthcare. Although in Saudi Arabia, the concept of QoL was considered in the Eighth Development Plan of the Saudi Ministry of Economy and Planning that determined several indicators of QoL such as income, health and education etc. QoL was considered an objective outcome with identified measurable indicators. Hence, I am interested in introducing QoL as an outcome variable for healthcare interventions.     

Far too little attention has been paid to HRQoL studies in the Arab World. Very little is currently known about the key domains of the concept of HRQoL from an Arabian view. There is a need for instruments that are culturally suitable for assessing the HRQoL of patients with different health issues and concerns. It is also important to consider the social, economic and political status of the Arab countries and the challenges that faces the individuals living in a continuously changing environment. Although the

36-Item Short Form Survey

was translated into Arabic and culturally adapted, however, this tool is generic and there is a need for disease-specific instruments that its findings could be correlated to healthcare interventions.     

4. How long have you been a member of ISQOLS? Why did you choose to be a member of ISQOLS? How has your involvement in ISQOLS impacted your career/research/advancement in your knowledge of QoL studies?

I have been a member of ISQOLS one year ago and I chose to be a member in order to network with QoL researchers from all around the world and expand my professional network with scientists from outside my workplace. This would enable collaboration with researchers from other countries.  

Furthermore, to have access to the updates in QoL research and publications through newsletters and email lists. And to have access to ISQOLS annual conference abstracts and proceedings.  

Finally, to develop professionally and perhaps link ISQOLS to other societies and institutions in Saudi Arabia.  

Involvement in ISQOLS gave me the opportunity to become a part of the scientific community of QoL research. Participating in the 2019 ISQOLS Conference in Granada, Spain as a speaker enabled me to network with researchers internationally. After this conference, I was invited to present my research in a Webinar that is published in the YouTube channel of the ISQOLS. I believe these opportunities are helping me to disseminate my research findings which would help other researchers in the field.  

I am interested to collaborate with researchers from different countries to conduct HRQoL research studies and develop guidelines for linking HRQoL findings to healthcare interventions. I also wish to participate in future ISQOLS conferences and nethwork with researchers from different disciplines. Furthermore, I think of linking QoL assessment to community service were QoL would be framed in a different manner that could serve the community.