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.
    book Bowling A (2001) Measuring Disease, 2nd edn. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
    book Kasser T (2000) "Two versions of the American dream: which goals and values make for a high quality of life?" In: Diener E and Rahtz DR (eds.) Advances in Quality of Life: Theory and Research, pp. 3–12. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
    Katz JN (2001) Patient preferences and health disparities. Journal of the American Medical Association 286: 1506–1509.
    book Patrick DL and Erickson P (1993) Health Status and Health Policy: Quality of Life in Health Care Evaluation and Resource Allocation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
    Riley BB, Perna R, Tate DG, et al. (1998) Types of spiritual well-being among persons with chronic illness: their relation to various forms of quality of life. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 79: 258–264.
    book Sen A (1999) Development as Freedom. New York, NY: Knopf.
    book Shakespeare T and Watson N (2001) "The social model of disability: an outdated ideology?" In: Barnartt SN and Altman BM (eds.) Exploring Theories and Expanding Methodologies: Where We are and Where We Need to Go, pp. 9–28. Amsterdam: JAI/Elsevier Press.
    Tate DG, Riley BB, Perna R and Roller S (1997) Quality of life issues among women with physical disabilities or breast cancer. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 78: S18–S25.
    book Wilson JQ (1993) The Moral Sense. New York, NY: Free Press.
 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:

Bioethics | General Genetics and Disease | Health Care | Science and Society - General
Contact Editor close
Submit a note to the editor about this article by filling in the form below.

* Required Field

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]