ABSTRACT
The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)1 was endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2001; it presents a holistic biopsychosocial paradigm in which to view a person's health status. The ICF stresses health and function rather than disability, with a focus on impact rather than cause. The medical model of health views disability as a problem of the individual, caused by injury or disease, whereas the social model of health defines disability as a lack of integration of individuals into society.2 The ICF framework is divided into two parts, each with two components, which can be expressed in either positive or negative terms (Fig. 13.1).
