Awareness and the Arguments for and against the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health among Representatives of Disability Organisations

Jörgen Lundälv, Marie Törnbom, Per-Olof Larsson and Katharina S. Sunnerhagen
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Jörgen Lundälv: Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, Box 720, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Marie Törnbom: Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, Box 720, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Per-Olof Larsson: Department of Social Work, University of Gothenburg, Box 720, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Katharina S. Sunnerhagen: Research Group for Rehabilitation Medicine, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Per Dubbsgatan 14, 413 45 Gothenburg, Sweden

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-8

Abstract: Disability organisations have not been engaged in the debate about the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Sweden. We wanted to know representatives’ attitudes about the ICF. The aim of the study was to elucidate the arguments for and against the ICF among representatives of disability organisations. The study consisted of eighteen representatives (from six disability organisations) that answered electronic questionnaires. The questionnaires involved ten open questions about the arguments for and against the ICF. The answers of the questionnaires have been categorized according to qualitative content analysis. Our results indicated four themes: awareness, arguments for and against, influence and the future. More than half of the representatives had very limited awareness of the ICF. There was an explicit criticism of individual classification but more positive comments about classification on an aggregated level. The most important issue for representatives was influencing social policy in society, not learning and spreading information about the ICF.

Keywords: International Classification of Functioning; Disability and Health (ICF); disability organisations; representatives; awareness; social policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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