title: Quality of life routine outcomes measurement: lessons from experience in the USA and the UK.
abstract: 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).
authors.affiliation: David Goldberg Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. p.huxley@iop.kcl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Huxley
authors.forename: Sherrill
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D003120:Colorado; D006801:Humans; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D020377:Self Efficacy; D006113:United Kingdom