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)
The W-QLI index was field tested for clients and providers by using local mental health providers
known to the authors. Results of the initial validation work have been reported in detail elsewhere.(2) In
order to ensure content and face validity of the W-QLI, we based the conceptual framework and the
development of the instrument on a comprehensive model of QoL that includes multiple dimensions as
well as multiple perspectives on the client’s QoL. Furthermore, both consumers and professionals
considered to have expertise and extensive experience with persons suffering from severe and persistent
mental illness were involved in the development, definition and choice of items and/or scales to be
included to represent these multiple dimensions of life quality. Finally, to the extent possible, existing
valid scales were chosen to capture some aspects of the various domains and dimensions of QoL