A new approach to facilitation of working alliances based on patients' quality of life goals

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Abstract
Outcome research has indicated the patients' perception of “working alliances” to be a major predictor of the success of various types of interventions, such as psychotherapy, medication, and case management services. The professional therapist or case manager needs various strategies to establish and maintain working alliances with patients and their supportive networks. This paper describes a Quality of Life Self-Assessment Inventory approach, the QLS-100, which promotes the development of working alliances between mental health service delivery staff and persons with schizophrenia or other serious mental illness. The QLS-100 inventory offers assistance in devising successful treatment programmes that are well-tailored for individual patients; it describes specific needs and demonstrates the repertoire of skills required for personal effectiveness and the specific aspirations of the patient in each particular case. Working alliances can be successfully maintained when regularly performed QLS self-assessments are taken into account and used for checking the effectiveness of services, for recording changes in needs, and for revising plans in collaboration with the patient and her/his family network. The completed QLS-100 inventory can thus provide everybody involved with a comprehensive overview of the patient's own impression of her or his current situation and future quality of life goals.