Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T22:36:09.205Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Quality of life routine outcomes measurement: lessons from experience in the USA and the UK

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2011

Summary

This paper is concerned with issues in the routine measurement of quality of life in a mental health context. It is in three parts. In the first part the first author reviews briefly, lessons from a decade of experience in the use of data produced by routine measurement using the Colorado Client Assessment Record (CCAR) in the Mental Health Centre of Boulder County (MHCBC) in Colorado, USA. In the second part, the specific issues surrounding quality of life assessment as a routine outcome measure are considered. Evidence is presented to counter some of the commonly held beliefs about QoL measurement problems. Finally, general problems that affect QoL and all other routine measures are described and analysed using a framework devised by Peterson (1989).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Andrews, G., Peters, L. & Teeson, M. (1994). Measurement of Consumer Outcome in Mental Health: a Report to the National Mental Health Information Strategy Committee. Clinical research unit for anxiety disorders: Sydney.Google Scholar
Atkinson, M., Zibin, S. & Chuang, H. (1997). Characterising quality of life among patients with chronic mental illness: a critical examination of self-report methodology. American Journal of Psychiatry 154 (1), 99105.Google ScholarPubMed
Atkinson, T. (1982). Stability and validity of Quality of Life measures. Social Indicators Research 10(2), 113132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brann, P., Coleman, G. & Luk, E. (2000). Routine outcome measurement in a child and adolescent mental health service: an evaluation of HoNOSCA. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 35, 370376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S. & Huxley, P. (2001). Recent evidence in the use of Quality of Life Assessment in Mental Health. In Proceedings of the Third Conference of the International Society for Quality of life Studies (ed. Casas, F. and Saurina, C.). Universitàt de Girona, Servicio de Publicaciones: Girona.Google Scholar
Evans, S., Huxley, P. & Gately, C. (2002). Quality in Later Life (QuiLL): the Development of a New Generic Instrument for Use in Routine Practice. Final Report to the PPP Foundation. Health Services Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry: London.Google Scholar
Harel, T.Z., Smith, D.W. & Rowles, J.M. (2002). A comparison of psychiatrists' clinical-impression-based and social workers' computer-generated GAF scores. Psychiatric Services 53, 340342.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huxley, P., Evans, S., Burns, T., Fahy, T. & Green, J. (2001). Quality of life outcome in a randomised controlled trial of case management. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 36 (5), 249255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lam, J.A. & Rosenheck, R.A. (2000). Correlates of improvement in quality of life among homeless persons with serious mental illness. Psychiatric Services 51 (1), 116118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Long, A.F. & Dixon, P. (1996). monitoring outcomes in routine practice: defining appropriate measurement criteria. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 2, 7178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oliver, J.P.J. et al. (1996). Quality of Life in Mental Health Services. Routledge: London.Google Scholar
Peterson, P. (1989). Academic-service relations. Paper presented at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, Decision Support Conference, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Rock, D., Combrinck, J. & Groves, A. (2001). Issues associated with the implementation of routine outcome measures in public mental health services. Australasian Psychiatry 19(1), 4346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stedman, T., Yellowlees, P., Drake, S., Chant, D., Clarke, R. & Chappie, B. (2000). The perceived utility of six selected measures of consumer outcomes for routine use in Australian mental health services. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 34, 842849.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed