The QOLI assessment opens up a whole new area of assessment by broadening the criterion of "mental health" to include personal happiness and life satisfaction in addition to the absence of psychiatric symptoms. The QOLI assessment gives you a positive mental health instrument to augment other psychological assessments that focus on negative affect and symptoms.
The QOLI assessment can be used as a screening tool for mental health and physical problems. A low quality of life score is often a key symptom of psychological and physical disturbances and might also predict future health problems.
Addressing quality of life issues can also be crucial to the success of treatment. Some clients are discontent, even though their symptoms have remitted with treatment, because their quality of life has not improved. There is even some evidence that symptom reduction and improved functioning in everyday life cannot occur in psychotherapy unless the patient's quality of life is enhanced.
Finally, the QOLI assessment can help clinicians develop relevant treatment plans by focusing both client and therapist on "real world" aspects of life, like work situation, living arrangement, etc. These areas can often be changed more quickly than cognitive or psychodynamic factors can.
