[Relevance of personal contextual factors of the ICF for use in practical social medicine and rehabilitation]. / Bedeutung der personbezogenen Faktoren der ICF für die Nutzung in der praktischen Sozialmedizin und Rehabilitation.

Personal contextual factors play an essential part in the model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). The WHO has not yet classified personal factors for global use although they impact on the functioning of persons positively or negatively. In 2010, the ICF working group of the German Society of Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP) presented a proposal for the classification of personal factors into 72 categories previously arranged in 6 chapters. Now a positioning paper has been added in order to stimulate a discussion about the fourth component of the ICF, to contribute towards a broader and common understanding about the nature of personal factors and to incite a dialogue among all those involved in health care as well as those people with or with-out health problems in order to gain a comprehensive perspective about a person's condition.

[Personal factors of the ICF]. / Personbezogene Faktoren der ICF.

PURPOSE: The presentation aims at illustrating the draft proposal of personal factors of the ICF for German-speaking regions which has been published in 2010 by the working group ICF of Faculty II "Social Medicine and Rehabilitation" of the German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention, DGSMP. For this reason, each personal factor is illustrated by two examples. Thus, the benefit is intended to be convincing. METHODS: Applying a qualitative approach, the working group ICF consisting of members of various professions and institutions including a patients' representative selected for each item one example the factor serving as a facilitator and a second the factor serving as a barrier. RESULTS: The components of the personal factors, as proposed, are presented, each factor is accompanied by two examples. CONCLUSION: The presentation demonstrates the various possibilities of applying personal factors and intends to prove that the selection of items chosen makes sense. The process of a comprehensive discussion about the possible format of the component of personal factors in the ICF should lead to a further optimization of the proposal and the preparation of a discussion at an international level.