Event

Working Group “Employment, Inclusion and ICF”

In 2019 EPR members started meeting regularly to discuss the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In 2020 the EPR Innovation Taskforce on Employment, Inclusion and ICF was created to share knowledge, challenges and common resources on the topic.

In continuity with what has been done in 2019 and 2020, two meetings of the Innovation Taskforce on Employment, Inclusion and ICF were organised online in 2021, on 6 May and 15 September. At the first meeting, the activities for 2021 were reviewed, a resource concept elaborated and the aims of the Innovation Taskforce on Employment, Inclusion and ICF clarified. Based on the pieces of research collected and shared by a number of EPR members, at the second meeting colleagues from Belgium and Greece gave three presentations. The group decided to continue its activities in the current format, i.e., mainly by sharing and presenting experiences and research on the use of the ICF in different types of services provided for different types of service users and on the implementation of the ICF-based activities and instruments in practice.

One shared recommendation to policy makers already agreed upon is to shift with the design of the services offered and with assessment tools to a solution-focused and capability-based approach and to overcome the still predominant problem-based approach. ICF-based instruments focus on deficits and problems of persons in vocational rehabilitation programmes whereas what is needed are assessment tools to focus on their capabilities. Such an approach would also be more in line with the policy aim to arrive at higher labour market participation rates, in particular for persons with reduced capabilities and/or disabilities.

In the first meeting of 2022 on 7 April the Working Group ICF continued the exchange on research results, project outcomes and good practices in used making used of/building on the ICF with inputs from EPR members. In the 2^nd meeting in 2022 on 30 November (10:00-12:00), in addition to input provided by members of the Working Group, the repository on ICF-related material shared by EPR members will be presented.

An agenda is being prepared, based on input from EPR members, and will be uploaded here soon.

This event is for EPR members only.