Beyond Assessment of Quality of Life in Schizophrenia

This book fills a significant research gap in how to integrate quality of life data into relevant clinical care plans, and to broaden its applicability to pharmacoeconomic studies of antipsychotic medications and health policy decision-making. It also pre

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Beyond Assessment of Quality of Life in Schizophrenia

Beyond Assessment of Quality of Life in Schizophrenia

A. George Awad • Lakshmi N.P. Voruganti Editors

Beyond Assessment of Quality of Life in Schizophrenia

Editors A. George Awad Department of Psychiatry University of Toronto and Humber River Hospital Toronto, Ontario Canada

Lakshmi N.P. Voruganti Department of Psychiatry Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital Oakville, Ontario Canada

ISBN 978-3-319-30059-7 ISBN 978-3-319-30061-0 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-30061-0

(eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016941540 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Adis imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland

Foreword

A serious, systematic interest in assessing quality of life experiences of persons with schizophrenia appeared in the professional literature nearly four decades ago. As in other areas of health outcome assessment, there was a stirring sense at that time that simply measuring parameters of illness did not adequately capture the impacts of illness and treatment on the lives of patients. More broadly, this illnessfocused approach did not adequately reflect the potential value of promoting and improving health. How do illness and treatment affect our ability to engage in all that life offers and our sense of well-being? These were heady questions, embedded in a broader sense of social activism, at a time when persons with schizophrenia lacked a voice about their care. The context of this dawn of quality of life assessment provides context for this book. When quality of life assessment appeared on the scene, outcomes research in schizophrenia, as in most other disorders, stressed symptom reduction, symptom recurrence, and hospitalization. Strauss and Carpenter had only a few years earlier published their seminal work on the multiple dimensions of o