Using the quality of life framework to operationalize and assess the CRPD articles and the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

This article describes how rights, the United Nations SustainableDevelopment Goals (SDGs), and the quality of life (QOL) framework areclosely interrelated. Although legislation can be used as a tool for the prac-tical application of QOL principles, QOL assessment information isrequired to further develop legislation and monitor the fulfillment of laws,policies, and the SDGs. A validated QOL model, which provides a set ofconcepts that can be one useful way for understanding and assessing QOL,can also function to assess many of the rights and goals promulgated in theConvention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and in theSDGs. This article illustrates the overlap between the CRPD, SDGs andQOL using the #Rights4MeToo Scale, a new measurement instrument forpeople with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The instrument's value lies in its potential to: (a) raise awareness about therights enshrined in the CRPD; (b) design, implement, and evaluate theeffectiveness of interventions aimed at facilitating the exercise of thoserights and the achievement of the SDGs; and (c) ultimately improve theQOL of people with IDD.