Multidisciplinary Health Professions Discuss the Impact of the ICF on Practice
by Professional Development
On December 11th, 2003, representatives from five professional associations met to discuss the World Health Organizations's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In addition to APA, representatives from the American Speech Language Hearing Association, the American Occupational Therapy Association, the American Occupational Therapy Foundation, the National Association of Social Workers, and the American Physicial Therapy Association attended the meeting.
APA has been spearheading an effort to develop an interdisciplinary users' manual for health professionals to facilitate implementation of the ICF in clinical settings. Representatives from the other disciplines have been involved in creating content and field testing the prototype manual. The potential use of the ICF in clinical settings and results of the consensus conference field trials were discussed at the meeting on December 11th. Individual field trials are concluding and additional chapters are being written in 2004.
For more information, or to participate, please contact Lynn Bufka, PhD, Director, Professional Development Demonstration Projects, Practice Directorate.
