PhysioTutors: Patient History and RPS-Form

In this video Andreas from PhysioTutors explains you a way of how to use the RPS-Form of the ICF framework in your patient history taking.

Clinical decision making for physical therapy

The process of clinical decision making in Physical Therapy is what makes the difference between the experienced and the inexperienced, the good and the bad, the best and the good :-)

In my opinion, if you build your "mind-map" in a well structured and clear way and you combine that with the deep knowledge of your study subjects - anatomy, physiology, biomechanics etc - then you have made the 1st step to becoming an amazing Physical Therapist..!

This is all the stuff I have covered in my 1st year in the ESP, structured in a way I thought it helps my mind and based on the following resources:

HOAC II, David J. Magee book, Anne Shumway-Cook, Marjorie H. Woollacott book, the ICF and the ESP (HvA).

Here is the link to my structure.

The ICF Framework

The WHO's ICF reflects the modern day thinking about disability and embodies a paradigm shift in the way health and disability are understood and measured. ICF is based on a bio-psychosocial model of functioning and disability, in which functioning and disability are multi-dimensional phenomena experienced at the level of the body, the person, and society. In addition, a classification of environmental factors is included that allows users of the ICF to record the positive or negative impact of the environment on a person's functioning.

Continue reading.

After reading this chapter, the reader should be able to:

Understand ICF's model and structure

Appreciate importance of standards to disability statistics

Describe ICF's structure and coding for population data collection

(this link was suggested to me by my classmate Bita Lotfaliei)

ICF research branch

The ICF model, suggested by the World Health Organization, offers a framework for work among helath professionals. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) offers a comprehensive and universally-accepted framework to describe functioning, disability and health in persons with all kinds of diseases or conditions.

The research branch of this model gives a more thorough presentation of this model with the:

ICF Browser
ICF Core Sets
ICF Case studies
ICF Research Branch Newsletter
ICF-based Documentation Form

and a beautiful "ICF eLearning Tool".

The ICF browser

I have already created another post explaining what the ICF is and providing the relevant links. What is useful to have also access to if you are using the ICF is the ICF browser.

This browser offers an online tool with all the possible disabilities, limitations in body functions and/or structures, and restrictions in activities and/or limitation in an organized way coded for use in the ICF model.

International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, known more commonly as ICF, is a classification of health and health-related domains. These domains are classified from body, individual and societal perspectives by means of two lists: a list of body functions and structure, and a list of domains of activity and participation. Since an individual’s functioning and disability occurs in a context, the ICF also includes a list of environmental factors.

The ICF is WHO's framework for measuring health and disability at both individual and population levels. The ICF was officially endorsed by all 191 WHO Member States in the Fifty-fourth World Health Assembly on 22 May 200. Unlike its predecessor, which was endorsed for field trail purposes only, the ICF was endorsed for use in Member States as the international standard to describe and measure health and disability.

More information here.