This application proposes a one-week workshop on Quality of Life: Views from Multiple Disciplines that would be sponsored by the Center for Research in Chronic Diseases (with co-sponsorship by the Center for Research in Health Care) at the University of Pittsburgh and would bring together a team of 32 investigators drawn from a broad representation of disciplines involved in the study of or enhancement of quality of life including the clinical sciences (medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, social work, psychology, exercise physiology), health economics, law architecture, city planning, robotics, information science, theology, and epidemiology. The workshop is designed to develop an interdisciplinary perspective on quality of life in chronic disease, to develop beginning skills in working in an interdisciplinary environment, and to develop beginning skills in designing an interdisciplinary application addressing quality of life. The workshop is targeted toward young investigators from a broad range of disciplines and is designed to address cutting edge issues related to quality of life including: the significance and impact of quality of life in health care evaluation and resource allocation, methodological considerations in quality of life assessment and research, as well as perspective on quality of life in chronic disorders from a variety of sciences. Methods of instruction over the six and one/half day workshop include group projects/discussion, panel discussion, experiential tours and lecture/discussion. At the end of the workshop participants will be expected to have completed an outline of an interdisciplinary study on quality of life which could be further developed in the participant's home setting. A monograph on quality of life will also be published following the workshop.
