This is part 2 of a two-part blog series for:
“Are you a clinician working with people affected by bipolar disorder?”
Click here for part 1.
Part of what we’re here to do at CREST.BD is to help healthcare providers to help their patients access evidence-informed resources and treatments. We have produced tools to empower people with bipolar disorder, and their healthcare providers, to assess quality of life in daily life and routine clinical practice.
In this blog we introduce two CREST.BD tools that can support the work you do with your clients with bipolar disorder: the Quality of Life Tool (QoL Tool), and the Bipolar Wellness Centre.
QoL Tool
The QoL Tool is the first condition-specific measure of qualify of life in bipolar disorder; one application of the Tool is as an instrument to help healthcare providers and their clients collaboratively focus on goals for treatment. The online scale gives scores based on the client’s self-reported satisfaction with their quality of life in 14 life areas, including domains such as mood, sleep, independence, self-esteem, money, and work.
The QoL Tool can be useful to enhancing therapy as a case formulation tool. It allows clinicians to set treatment goals based on their patient’s subjective satisfaction with different quality of life areas. By focusing on positive QoL outcomes, an agenda for treatment and self-care can be set which empowers patients to manage and optimize their health and quality of life.
Watch a short video designed for clinicians discussing the use the QoL Tool in therapy:
Feedback from healthcare providers and patients tells us that, by focusing on domains of life that are important for those with bipolar disorder, we can improve self-efficacy and patient engagement with treatment, thereby coming closer to our goal of helping people with bipolar disorder to achieve optimal health and QoL.
Watch the QoL Tool in action in a clinical session here:
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or feedback about the QoL Tool.
To learn more about the QoL Tool, please read our healthcare clinician letter.
Bipolar Wellness Centre
The Bipolar Wellness Centre is designed to augment the work that a patient would do with their clinician, and encourages the person with bipolar disorder to take as much agency and active responsibility around their condition as possible. The site acts as a resource for people with bipolar disorder to self-manage their condition and ultimately improve their quality of life.
Watch our introductory video for healthcare providers here:
The Bipolar Wellness Centre is structured around the same 14 quality of life areas assessed by the QoL Tool. For each of these life areas information is provided (through both text and audio options) on: 1) Research-informed content that speaks on how to take specific actions to enhance self-management in each life area, and 2) Links to carefully selected online tools such as apps, blogs, articles, and videos.
To learn more about the Bipolar Wellness Centre, please visit our page for healthcare providers here: bdwellness.com/HealthcareProviders
To stay updated on the upcoming CREST.BD tools and resources, follow us @CREST_BD, or LIKE us on Facebook: facebook.com/crestbd
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