The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) in Clinical Practice

Abstract

Although in the World Health Organization's (WHO's) original constitution, health was defined as “the complete, physical, mental, and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity,” health systems have still often equated health with lack of disease. Over the last decade, there has been an increasing awareness of functional health, which is having sufficient health to be involved in the life one wants to have, including work and leisure. Functional health thus includes physical, cognitive, and communication skills needed to be fully involved in life. This broader definition of health clearly includes the life circumstances of the persons speech-language pathologists serve.