Concepts and Measurement of Quality of Life in Health Care

Abstract

Table of Contents Editor's Preface. Introduction. Section I: The Concept of Quality of Life. Aristotle on the Good Life and Quality of Life; E. Ostenfeld. Towards a Theory of Happiness: a Subjectivist Notion of Quality of Life; L. Nordenfelt. Happiness, Life and Quality of Life: a Commentary on Nordenfelt's `Towards a Theory of Happiness'; P. Cattorini, R. Mordacci. On Need and Quality of Life; P.-E. Liss. Needs, Rights and Resources in Quality of Life Research; T. Moum. Section II: Quality of Life in the Health Care Context: Analytical and Ethical Issues. Quality of Life: Why Now? a Sociological View; M. Bury. Reflections on the Notion of `Quality of Life'; A. Fagot-Largeault. Changing Preferences: Conceptual Problems in Comparing Health-Related Quality of Life; P. Sandoe, K. Kappel. Quality of Life and Handicapped People; B. Musschenga. Section III: Measuring Quality of Life in Health Care. The Plausibility of Quality-of-Life Measures in Different Domains of Health Care; R. Fitzpatrick, G. Albrecht. Analyzing Changes in Health-Related Quality of Life; S. Bjork, P. Roos. On General and Need-Related Quality of Life: a Psychological Theory for Use in Medical Rehabilitation and Psychiatry; A. Aggernaes. A Psychiatric and Interactional Perspective on Quality of Life; M. Kajandi. Index. Editorial Reviews Book Description This volume brings together a number of scholarly studies on the definition, assessment and measurement of human quality of life. The book contains fundamental analyses of basic concepts such as welfare, wellbeing, happiness and quality of life itself, but contains also discussions on the application of such concepts for measuring purposes mainly in a health care context. Although the approach to these problems in the book is predominantly philosophical, there are also some studies which take a different, mainly sociological and medical, point of view. Most of the authors have a Scandinavian origin and their essays mirror the current debate on quality of life in northern Europe. The book however also contains contributions by distinguished scholars from the U.K., France, Italy and the Netherlands.