Quality of Life and Disability

An Approach for Community Practitioners

A refreshing book that can hold the reader's interest throughout. Quality of Life and Disability should be a compulsory text for all students in the disability field and would make a useful one for experienced practitioners including social workers.'

- Australian Social Work

'Among the recent proliferation of books on quality of life, this is a standout! Not only is Quality of Life and Disability: An Approach for Community Practitioners placed squarely in the disability field, but it has an applied emphasis that is rare for a topic that so abounds in vague and often conflicting theories and terminologies. Rather than burdening the reader with the conceptual conundrums of a construct as ambitious as whole of life quality, Brown and Brown dive into the real life issues. This quality of life text will appeal to many practitioners in the disability field. A welcome addition to the bookshelves of many practitioners.'

- Paul Bramston, University of Southern Queensland, Australia

'Excellent guide demonstrating to practitioners, not only what they have to do to increase the quality of life of the people they look after, but also how they should start doing it.'

- Wspolne Tematy

'A remarkably rich mixture of experience, guidance and insight into the determination of people's quality of life, and into ways in which a wide variety of care staff, managers and policy-makers can understand and respond to disabled people's wants and needs.'

- Care and Health magazine

'One of the most refreshing approaches in the contemporary literature on quality of life and disability. The authors are to be congratulated for the very user friendly way the book has been designed.'

- Trevor R. Parmenter, University of Sydney

'This book reflects the authors' extensive experience and admirable insight as they bring quality of life ideas closest to those who are in the best position to apply them - the practitioners. Useful, stimulating and well written.'

- Robert L. Schalock, Hastings College, Nebraska

'The authors weave their text seamlessly, reminding us at every turn that quality of life varies across individuals, cultures and time... tightly-structured and practical.'

- Patricia Noonan Walsh, University College, Dublin

'This excellent book is a valuable contribution to training literature in the field of community rehabilitation.'

- Mitchell Clark, Mount Royal College, Calgary, Canada

Quality of life - physical, psychological and environmental well-being - is a crucial consideration for professionals working with people with a disability. The authors of this practical book apply ideas about quality of life to the field of disability to assist front-line professionals, managers and policy-makers in effective service provision.

They examine the historical context of the concept of quality of life and discuss the application of quality of life in the daily lives of people who have disabilities. Using recent studies to show how the development of quality of life approaches have led to changes in rehabilitation, and how an understanding of the issue can inform practice in assessment, intervention, management and policy, this is an indispensable book for all practitioners and managers working with people with disabilities.