Abstract
The last few years have witnessed the renewal of considerable debate about the character, definition and measurement of quality of life. This has been especially true with respect to the application of concepts of quality of life in health assessments and health care evaluation. However, in Britain, at least, accounts of the background and reasons for this increase in interest in quality of life are less in evidence. Much of the current debate focuses on difficulties in defining and deciding what are the relevant dimensions of quality of life for particular purposes, and of operationalizing these in research [15]. There is also considerable debate on the use, or more properly, possible use, of quality of life measures in the policy sphere, particularly in the allocation of resources, again, most especially in health care. This latter debate has included ethical considerations, and the possible unintended consequences of the practical application of quality of life measures. For example, there are fears that people could be excluded from receiving care if their membership of a disease group, rated low in terms of quality of life, was used as a means of rationing [22].
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Bury, M. (1994). Quality of Life: Why Now? A Sociological View. In: Nordenfelt, L. (eds) Concepts and Measurement of Quality of Life in Health Care. European Studies in Philosophy of Medicine 1, vol 47. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8344-2_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8344-2_8
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