Developing the living in the community questionnaire: reporting the social outcomes of mental health care

Abstract

This paper examines an Australian approach to the measurement of social inclusion for consumers of public-funded mental health services. The former Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing commissioned the new measure, called the Living in the Community Questionnaire (LCQ), needed to be brief, able to be completed by consumers with minimal support (if any), quantifiable, allow normative comparison as available and demonstrate the social outcomes of care so the measure could be used to support recovery-orientated therapeutic practice. This paper describes the early development and initial psychometric testing of the LCQ.

Keywords:

• Measure
• social inclusion
• recovery