Clients’ perception of their quality of life over time while being supported by a psychiatric outreach team

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring the perceptions of patients living in the community, who are being supported by a psychiatric Outreach Team. The main interest of the researcher lay in the Quality of Life (QoL) of these individuals, as well as changes in perception over time. Twenty individuals chose to participate in the study, each of whom was interviewed twice at different time periods. The Tidal Model (Barker 2000) was used as a guide to the research process. The results showed that the participants under study seem to be already quite satisfied with their QoL, however certain issues were perceived to be of more concern than others. There were minor significant improvements in the QoL over time.