Recovering Quality of Life (ReQoL) for users of mental health services
ReQoL is a new Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PROM) that has been developed to assess the quality of life for people with different mental health conditions. A PROM is a questionnaire that patients complete about their health.
Questionnaires like this are important as they are used in helping to decide what support or services people receive and to measure and improve the quality of care that service users receive. ReQoL was developed by a Scientific Group led from The University of Sheffield and funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme in England for use in the NHS.
ReQoL measures:
There are two versions of the ReQoL measures. ReQoL-10 contains 10 mental health items and ReQoL-20 contains 20 mental health items. Both versions contain one physical health question. The measures are suitable for use with service users aged 16 and over. They are suitable for use across all mental health populations including common mental health problems, severe and complex and psychotic disorders (clusters 1-17) (not dementia or learning disabilities).
Rationale:
Why was ReQoL needed?
It has been recognised that a self-complete generic measure is needed to assess the outcome of mental health services that is not limited by diagnosis, but suitable for anyone who is or may at some point use mental health services. The most common measure for this purpose in England is EQ-5D, but it has been shown not to be appropriate in many areas of mental health (Brazier et al., 2014). A generic measure needs: to be short; to be applicable to all the clusters and; to encompass the main domains for measuring recovery outcomes in mental health as reported by Boardman et al. (2013). There is no measure that is suitable for this purpose, necessitating the development of a new generic measure in the area of mental health.
Strengths of ReQoL:
Why use ReQoL?
Strengths of ReQoL:
- Consistent with the themes of recovery
- Constructed using considerable inputs from service users and clinicians
- Acceptable to service users and clinicians
- Short and simple to use
- Suitable for a range of mental health conditions from common mental health disorders to more severe ones
- ReQoL has been developed using a robust methodology and is psychometrically sound
- Preference weights will be available for the ReQoL to generate quality adjusted life years.
- Free for the NHS and for publicly funded research
Click on the film below for an overview of ReQoL and the use of the measures
To view the film, click on the arrow in the clip above. If you wish to download this film, please click here.
ReQoL is an independent project commissioned and funded by the Policy Research Programme in the Department of Health. However, the views expressed are not necessarily those of the Department. The work was conducted by researchers in the Policy Research Unit for Economic Evaluation of Health and Care Interventions.
