Measuring psychosocial outcomes: is the consumer or the professional the best judge?

open access

 Abstract

In this review, we explore professionally-driven and consumer-driven paradigms in measuring psychosocial outcomes for cancer care. Early measures of psychosocial well-being focussed on clinically-derived concepts of dysfunction. Recent literature reflects a paradigm shift toward a consumer-driven approach to the conceptualisation and measurement of psychosocial well-being. The key distinction between the two approaches rests on whether the professional or consumer retains judgement authority and raises the question of whether it is necessary to include both perspectives in research and practice. Research is proposed to clarify our interpretation of these approaches with a view to devising novel interventions to benefit patient well-being.......

" The impact of the problem
The biomedical model assumes that disease is an ‘undesirable deviation or discontinuity’ that ‘gives rise to the need for corrective actions’ (Engel 1977). This facilitates standardisation of diagnoses and therefore, choice of appropriate treatment regimes (Widiger & Samuel 2005). A professionally-driven approach to psychosocial measurement will as a result, focus on describing and quantifying recognised symptoms. For example, QoL measures such as the Functional Living Index for Cancer (FLIC) quantify the degree or frequency of a symptom without reference to whether that experience is of importance or value to the patient.......