From function to felicitude: Physical disability and the search for happiness in health services research

Historically, research and practice in physical disability have emphasized the destructive and disabling consequences of illness and injury. More rece ntly, we have begun to measure outcomes related to health, satisfaction, an d quality-of-life. There has been little systematic attention to the study of happiness, felicitude, but data show that even for many of the people wi th most notable impairment, levels of happiness are high. The quest for fel icitude requires methodological changes and, more significantly, greater pr ofessional humility to appreciate that people with both physical and intell ectual impairments are able to experience and articulate their own satisfac tion, pleasure, and joy. Fortified with this unpretentiousness, we can find happiness and begin to incorporate it as an outcome of clinical and public health programs.