Quality of Life and Coping With Chronic Illness and Disability

Abstract

Quality of life (QOL) has been one of the most commonly used constructs in the field of rehabilitation. More specifically, it has been viewed and studied as a process, measure, goal, and outcome in the domain of psychosocial adaptation to chronic illness and disability (CID). However, it has seldom been discussed in the contexts of community-level clinical interventive strategies or personal-level coping strategies. This article seeks to provide the reader with a better appreciation and understanding of (a) the temporal nature of QOL within both the community-level and personal-level contexts of interventions, (b) the temporal-oriented parallel nature of managing life stresses as viewed from both community- and personal-level perspectives, (c) the intricate nature of anticipating, managing, and coping with CID as viewed from three distinct temporal vantage points, and (d) the psychosocial benefits accrued from future-oriented, positively valenced, post-CID coping efforts and their salutary influence on QOL among people with CID. The article concludes with a brief review of several theoretical, clinical, and research implications, informed by the temporal nature of coping strategies and their effect on psychosocial adaptation to CID.

Keywords

adjustment to disability(ies)adaptation to psychosocial aspects of disability(ies)

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