ABSTRACT
In 1985, our UK research began into the quality of life of clients on the caseloads of social and health care agencies in the north-west of England (Oliver 1991a). At that time, the term had only recently been applied to chronically mentally ill people, with most research until then concentrating on the ‘adverse effects of the treatment and indirect effects of the illness’ (Tantam 1988:243). Arguably, the most striking work existing in respect of the quality of life of long-term mentally disordered people had appeared in papers by Baker and Intagliata (1982) and Lehman (Lehman et al. 1982; Lehman 1983a). Stimulated by these studies, our research began as an attempt to incorporate this research into the UK context.
