title: [Quality of life in medicine--origins, main concepts and directions of change].
abstract: Assessment of the quality of life depends not only health, but also on many other factors, which together make up the everyday life of the individual, including: independence, relationship to the environment, personal beliefs, attitudes and religion. The illness process, irrespective of its stage or magnitude, influences the life of the patient, very often leading to a break down in organisation and limiting his/her ability to fulfill his/her roles and social functions. In consequence, a lowering of living standards results. For many years, health was measured in very narrow terms and in a negative sense. Deviations from normal health were measured, with no attempt to find indicators of good health. The aim of this paper is to present the origins and main concepts underlying the notion of quality of life, which developed first within the social sciences, and since the 1970s has been recognised within medicine. The approach demonstrates a different perspective for understanding a sick person, not merely from the biological point of view, but also taking into account aspects of psychological social and spiritual functioning. Introduction of the concept of quality of life is determined by the fact that the aim of therapeutic interventions ought to be not only reducing the symptoms of an illness, but also providing an improvement in the sick person's functioning, thus leading to an improvement in his/her quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Akademia Medyczna w Białymstoku, Wydział Pielegniarstwa i Ochrony Zdrowia, Zakład Pielegniarstwa Ogólnego. matyldasierakowska@gazeta.pl
authors.forename: Matylda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sierakowska
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krajewska-Kułak
authors.forename: Stanisław
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sierakowski
mesh_terms: D015510:Clinical Medicine / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D012380:Role