| Popis: |
Quality of life (QOL) is an important goal of treatment in chronic illness. QOL research has policy, treatment evaluation, descriptive, and individual clinical uses. At a policy level, QOL assessment identifies effective components of the healthcare system. QOL studies also evaluate the impact of differing treatments. Descriptive research informs professionals, patients, and the public about health-related QOL (HRQOL) challenges in chronic illness. Assessment to facilitate decision making for the individual patient is not widely used at present. Two philosophical perspectives are evident. The ‘needs’ approach views QOL as the extent to which universal human needs are met. In the ‘wants’ approach, QOL definition is determined by the individual being evaluated. Professional judgment consistently underestimates patient QOL. Many comparative studies find little difference in QOL between ‘healthy’ individuals and those with serious conditions. QOL may have a trait or homeostatic dimension such that individuals ‘reset’ their evaluative framework in adversity to recreate an acceptable level of QOL. Further research on QOL can inform treatment choice at individual and societal levels while expanding our conceptualization of the dynamic nature of QOL in chronic illness. |
