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Measuring Health and Disability in Europe: Supporting Policy Development
Disability is a multi-dimensional phenomenon arising out of an interaction between the individual's health
condition and the physical and social environment. Disability data, and the instruments to collect the data,
must reflect this bio-psychosocial model of disability. Valid and reliable information is essential to
design, implement or evaluate policies and legislation to combat discrimination and promote social
integration, participation and enhance opportunities.
The World Health Organization's International
Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) provides the framework for documenting the
interaction between health and environmental features, and the differential distribution of
disability among different groups in different contexts. This Co-ordination action will demonstrate the
feasibility and utility of applying the ICF model to the measurement of types and prevalence of impairments,
therefore using appropriate measurement instruments.
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It will provide evidence that data currently being collected, nationally and internationally, embody conceptual
confusions, inconsistencies and ambiguities about disability and the relationship between health
conditions, impairments and other environmental factors. The project objectives are:
- to use the ICF model as the structure for analyzing existing general population health surveys and
education statistics data
- to show that the ICF model is adequate for describing and measuring patterns of disability in clinical
samples of selected conditions in different countries cross-sectionally and over time as well as feasible
and useful in clinical, rehabilitation and educational sectors
- to produce policy recommendations and guidelines concerning how the existing sources of data can be
harmonised with the ICF model.
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The methodology used will lead to an integration of existing statistical information systems, across
nations, sectors and life span of present and future members of the EU.
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