The Wisconsin Quality of Life Index (W-QLI) for use in mental health has been made available to
investigators in community settings, academia and the pharmaceutical industry. In exchange for early
access to the W-QLI, anonymous data sets have been provided to the developers for psychometric
evaluation. Early application studies were primarily conducted in community support programs
(CSP’s). However, the W-QLI has also been used in hospital settings, clinical trials, a private doctor’s
office, and mental health care units of health maintenance organizations
Studies currently in the field in the United States focus primarily on persons with chronic mental illness.
The majority of responders have carried a diagnosis of schizophrenia, although the W-QLI has also been
used in a populations of persons with borderline personality disorder and with major affective disorder.
The W-QLI has been used for program evaluation as well as for the purpose of comparing outcomes of
different service models (i.e. a Program for Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) and a Fountain
House Model Program)