In order to capture a complete profile of functioning and disability in children with cerebral palsy, a holistic understanding of health is required. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health-Children and Youth version (ICF-CY) recognizes disability as a relationship between the health status of the child and the environment in which the child lives. Developed by the World Health Organization, the ICF-CY is a universal tool for the documentation of disability which organizes information the child’s health and health-related well-being into two components: ‘functioning and disability’, and ‘contextual factors’.
The first component describes the child at:
1) the level of the body, i.e. body functions and structures: the actual anatomy and physiology/psychology of the human body, and
2) the level of the person and of society, i.e. activity and participation: functional status, including communication, mobility, interpersonal interactions, self-care, and learning. A problem in body functions or body structures is expressed as impairment. A difficulty at the person level would be noted as an activity limitation, and at the societal level as a participation restriction.
The second component, ‘contextual factors’, is divided into ‘environmental factors’ and ‘personal factors’. Environmental factors, i.e. factors that are not within the child's control, such as family and cultural beliefs may be barriers or facilitators to all components of functioning and disability. Personal factors are not classified in the ICF-CY.
Interactions between the components of ICF
