Toimintakyvyn arviointi. ICF teoriasta käytäntöön

Paltamaa J, Perttina P, eds. Assessment of functioning. The ICF from theory to practice. Helsinki: The Social Insurance Institution of Finland, Studies in social security and health 137, 2015. 139 pp. ISBN 978-951-669-979-3 (print), 978-951-669-980-9 (pdf ). The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) encompasses the impact of illness and injury on the life of individuals. In Finland, Kela recommends the use of the ICF in rehabilitation for planning, setting goals and assessing effectiveness. The ICF was published in 2001 and translated into Finnish in 2004, but its implementation has been slow. This research and development project aimed to promote the implementation of the ICF in clinical use. The study assessed implementation-related challenges in three rehabilitation centres. During the project, ICF eLearning Tool self-study materials were translated into Finnish for the WHO website. In the first part of the study, the multi-professional rehabilitation team’s conception of general utility of ICF was examined through surveys and group interviews. The second part investigated the functioning challenges of persons with spinal cord injuries through COPM interviews and WHODAS 2.0 questionnaires. The study also assessed changes in rehabilitation report content over 10 years by linking them to ICF and comparing the results to the ICF core sets for spinal cord injury. According to the results, people are familiar with the name ICF but experience it unrelated to team’s work and organisation’s operations. Changing current practices requires time, patience and commitment from the work community, along with training for all professionals, and communal learning within organisations and operational networks. ICF means an extensive understanding of the patient’s situation and functionality – genuine patient-oriented work that is useful and necessary.