Research directions
Quality of life in an eco-dynamical perspective
Our knowledge about maintenance of Quality of Life (QOL), as well as of health suffer from lack of adequate instruments.We are looking for heuristics to capture individual configurations of adaptation to ecological contexts. Based upon experiences from three former research projects, financed by the Swiss National Research Foundation (FNS), we hypothesize:
1. QOL and psychological well-being result from self-organizing dynamical processes in individual contexts
2. Counseling requests a limited set of interventions in order to change these dynamics
3. Effects of counseling could be better assessed by modelization of dynamics than by static measures
Comparative Study of Methadone Treatment
Methadone treatment of drug addicts has been shown to be efficient. In parallel with an important study on the effects of heroine prescription for certain groups of severely affected drug addicts, the effects of methadone treatment in French speaking part of Switzerland have been evaluated. The main result of these studies have already
been published. Our questions were:
1) What are the profiles of patients in methadone treatment, as compared to those of heroine perscription ?
2) Are drop-out rates different for different programs ?
3) Are there specific effects on Quality of Life for patients under methadone treatment ?
4) Are there different types of evolution during a treatment over 2 years ?
Entering work-force and Quality of Life in Switzerland
This net-work project of 5 Swiss Universities aims at the description and understanding of the transition from apprentiship to work. The main findings have already been published. Our specific interests were:
1) What are the aims of young people for their lives ?
2) How do they cope with daily hassels ?
3) What is their perception of self, profession and future ?
4) What changes are induced by the end of apprentiship ?
5) What evolution of professional situations can be found ?
6) Which experiences are positive or negative ?
7) What effects on values and attitudes can be observed ?
