Quality of Life: Human Worth Reduced to Measures of Ability

Gary L Albrecht, University of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Published online: July 2006

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0005215

Evaluations of health-related quality of life make judgments about the relative worth of individuals in society. These appraisals are made either subjectively or objectively based on ability, performance and values.

Keywords: disability; quality of life; human worth; measurement; social model of disability

 References
    Albrecht GL and Devlieger PJ (1999) The disability paradox: high quality of life against all odds. Social Science and Medicine 48: 977–988.
    book Altman BM (2001) "Disability definitions, models, classification schemes, and applications". In: Albrecht GL, Seelman KD and Bury M (eds.) Handbook of Disability Studies, pp. 97–122. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
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 Further Reading
    Albrecht GL (1996) Using subjective health assessments in practice and policy making. Health Care Analysis 4: 284–292.
    book Charmaz K (1991) Good Days Bad Days: The Self in Chronic Illness and Time. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
    book Cunningham-Burley S and Boulton M (2000) "The social context of the new genetics". In: Albrecht GL, Fitzpatrick R and Scrimshaw SC (eds.) Handbook of Social Studies in Health and Medicine, pp. 173–188. London, UK: Sage Publications.
    book Frank G (2000) Venus on Wheels: Two Decades of Dialogue on Disability, Biography and Being Female in America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
    Hudson KL, Rothenberg KH, Andrews LB, Kahn MJ and Collins FS (1995) Genetic discrimination and health insurance: an urgent need for reform. Science 270: 391–393.
    Johnston M and Pollard B (2001) Consequences of disease: testing the WHO International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) model. Social Science and Medicine 53: 1261–1273.
    book Lock M (2000) "Accounting for disease and distress: morals of the normal and abnormal". In: Albrecht GL, Fitzpatrick R and Scrimshaw SC (eds.) Handbook of Social Studies in Health and Medicine, pp. 259–276. London, UK: Sage Publications.
    book Nelkin D and Lindee S (1995) The DNA Mystique: The Gene As Cultural Icon. New York, NY: Freeman.
    Pääbo S (2001) The human genome and our view of ourselves. Science 291: 1219–1220.
    book Shakespeare T (ed.) (1998) The Disability Reader. London, UK: Cassell.
    Thomas SM (1999) Genomics: the implications for ethics and education. British Medical Bulletin 55: 429–445.
    Wasserman D (1996) Some moral issues in the correction of impairments. Journal of Social Philosophy 27: 128–145.

Related Sub-Topics:

General Genetics and Disease | Health Care | Science and Society - General | Bioethics
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Article Title: Quality of Life: Human Worth Reduced to Measures of Ability
 
How to Cite close
Albrecht, Gary L(Jul 2006) Quality of Life: Human Worth Reduced to Measures of Ability. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0005215]