Quality of Life

by Carr, Alison; Higginson, Irene; Robinson, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780727915443
• ISBN10: 0727915444
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-12-03
• Publisher: BMJ Books

Summary

The way we think about health and health care is changing. Two factors driving this change are that we recognise the importance of the social consequences of disease and secondly, we acknowledge that health care aims to increase both the quantity and quality of survival. For these reasons, health care focusses more and more on 'quality of life'. Measuring quality of life brings many challenges. What do we mean by 'quality of life'? Who should measure it? How can we measure it? What can we use the information for? This book provides an accessible but up to date and authoritative overview of the measurement of quality of life in health care. It brings together the work of authors from Medicine, Palliative Care, Nursing, Ethics, Dentistry, Assistive Technology, Sociology, Epidemiology and Statistics.

Author Biography

Alison Carr is the editor of Quality of Life, published by Wiley.

Irene Higginson is the editor of Quality of Life, published by Wiley.

Peter Robinson is the editor of Quality of Life, published by Wiley.

Table of Contents

1 Current state of the art in quality of life measurement	1	(8)
Ann Bowling
2 Is quality of life determined by expectations or experience?	9	(10)
Alison J Carr, Barry Gibson and Peter G Robinson
3 Are quality of life measures patient-centred?	19	(12)
Alison J Carr and Irene J Higginson
4 Quality of life in caregivers	31	(9)
David Sulch and Lalit Kalra
5 Assessing quality of life in children	40	(14)
Kelly A Vincent and Irene J Higginson
6 Who should measure quality of life?	54	(9)
Julia Addington-Hall and Lalit Kalra
7 The clinical utility of quality of life measures	63	(16)
Irene J Higginson and Alison J Carr
8 Measuring the impact of assistive technologies on quality of life: can rehabilitation professionals rise to the challenge?	79	(9)
Jane K Seale and Alan R Turner-Smith
9 How to choose a quality of life measure	88	(13)
Peter G Robinson, Alison J Carr and Irene J Higginson
10 Longitudinal analysis of quality of life data	101	(12)
Peter G Robinson and Nora Donaldson
11 Is there such a thing as a life not worth living?	113	(8)
Bobbie Farsides and Robert J Dunlop
Glossary	121	(7)
Index	128