Psychologiczny wymiar ,,jakości życia’’ w chorobach nowotworowych

The paper presents some conceptual and theoretical considerations concerning Quality of Life (QOL) in cancer patients. In this paper attention will be paid, firstly, to the meaning of two different forms of conceptualisation QOL (subjective and objective), secondly, to the factors contributing to the quality of life, thirdly, to role of mental adjustment to illness. At present, health related quality of life is understood as the way in which physical, emotional and social functioning is affected by illness and its treatment. There is no agreement regarding to the concept or the way to conceptualise quality of life. QOL is an aggregation of the evaluation of different aspects of life. Cancer and cancer treatments have an impact on these aspects of life. Some personal mechanisms and characteristics may play role in the evaluation of quality of life. First of all, cognitive process may influence on different ways used to restructure the experience of the situation in order to make life more bearable. The way in which people cope with a distressing situation may influence on the assessment of their quality o life.