Quality of life in psychiatry as an ethical duty: From the clinical to thesocietal perspective

It is the aim of this paper to discuss the ethical roots of the concept of quality of life and the historical background of its introduction into ment al health service evaluation research. it will be argued that the original broad meaning of the quality of life concept has been brought closely in li ne with the clinical view, neglecting the ethical and the societal dimensio ns of this concept. In conclusion, expansion of the scope of quality of lif e research in psychiatry from a clinical to a societal perspective will be suggested. On the basis of this argument, seven research questions concerni ng the most important nonclinical factors influencing the quality of life o f mentally ill patients will be formulated.