ICF Australian user guide version 1

Publication

Release Date: 10 Oct 2003

Topic: Disability

Media release

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2003) ICF Australian user guide version 1, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2024.

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2003). ICF Australian user guide version 1. Canberra: AIHW.

MLA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. ICF Australian user guide version 1. AIHW, 2003.

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. ICF Australian user guide version 1. Canberra: AIHW; 2003.

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2003, ICF Australian user guide version 1, AIHW, Canberra.

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The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) supports the collection of data on functioning and disability, in areas including population health and disability surveys, disability and aged care services, rehabilitation and allied health services. The AIHW, as a Collaborating Centre of the World Health Organization, has been involved for the last decade with the preparation of the ICF. The Australian ICF User Guide is intended to be a complement to the ICF classification itself, to assist Australian users to understand the classification, to inform them about current and potential applications and to provide advice on 'getting started'. It is designed for those wanting to find out more about the practical use of the ICF in Australia or planning to use the ICF.

ISSN: 1444-3589
ISBN: 978 1 74024 316 2
Cat. no: DIS 33
Pages: 146

Summary

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides a framework for the conceptualisation, classification and measurement of disability. It recognises disability as a multidimensional and universal experience. Within the ICF framework, a wide range of specific purpose definitions and applications can be located, developed and related to each other. Perspectives on disability may vary with environment, personal experience and professional training. The ICF provides an information framework—of concepts, terminology and classifications—that will help to establish a broadly shared understanding of disability at various life stages, in various settings and among people with varying experience and training. Widespread use of the ICF will lead to more integrated approaches to gathering and sharing information and to policy making. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is now encouraging the use of the ICF in a broad range of fields in Australia.

PDF report table of contents

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Preliminary material: List of tables, appendix tables, figures and boxes; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations

1. Purpose and outline

Introduction
Purposes of the User Guide
For whom is the User Guide written?
What are the uses of the ICF?
What is in this User Guide?

2. Overview of the ICF

Components of the ICF
Classifications and codes
The ICF and the WHO family of international classifications
History and development of the ICF
Overview of potential and intended uses

3. Benefits and uses of the ICF for Australia

Concerns about definition and classification
Benefits of definition and classification
Past and emerging uses
The future

4. Getting started: general advice on use

5. Activities and Participation: application in Australia

Activities and Participation in the ICF
Approaches to delineating Activities and Participation
Splitting the domains to delineate Activities and Participation- option (a)
Using the qualifiers as the basis for delineating Activities and Participation - options (b) and (d)
Qualifiers for Activities and Participation - and A-P delineation
The 'information matrix'
Moving forward on measurement and the qualifiers
Advice to users- and how to contribute to national development by recording use in a 'test template'

6. Environmental factors

Environmental factors and the ICF
Coding conventions and qualifiers
Current applications

7. The ICF and Australian data dictionaries

The ICF as a framework for national disability data
Moving towards national consistency
The ICF and national disability data elements
Using the national disability data elements

8. Disability identifiers

9. Personal factors

10. ICF applications - examples

Applying the ICF to a national disability services data collection
The use of the ICF framework in an allied health outcome measure: Australian Therapy Outcome Measures (AusTOMs)
The ICF and classification for disability athletics
The ICF and accident compensation in Australia
The ICF and speech pathology
The ICF and Rett Syndrome
Classification of support and need
The Handicap Assessment and Resource Tool (HART) and the ICF
The ICF and oral health

End matter: Links; References