Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to describe the functioning of traumatised refugees.

The aim of this project was to use the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) to develop an interdisciplinary instrument consisting of a Core Set, a number of codes selected from ICF, to describe the overall health condition of traumatised refugees. We intended to test 1) whether this tool could prove suitable for an overall description of the functional abilities of traumatised refugees before, during and after the intervention, and 2) whether the Core Set could be used to trace a significant change in the functional abilities of the traumatised refugees by comparing measurements before and after the intervention. In 2007, eight rehabilitation centres for traumatised refugees in Denmark agreed on a joint project to develop a tool for interdisciplinary documentation and monitoring, including physical, mental and social aspects of the person's health condition. ICF, developed and approved by WHO in 2001, was found suitable because it offers a common and standardised language and a corresponding frame of reference to describe health and associated conditions in terms of functioning rather than symptoms and diagnosis. Traumatised refugees are in most cases severely affected mentally by the traumas they have been subjected to, physically by injuries suffered during torture and war, psycho-somatically with pain, and socially by cultural uprooting, as well as by social difficulties in the exile community. The rehabilitation perspective thus seems to be more meaningful than the traditional treatment perspective because it takes into account the very complex situation of this group. The aim of the project was to find out whether any functional changes could be monitored using the instrument. The aim was neither to study nor to describe the effect of rehabilitation approaches, such as conditions related to traumatised refugees' networks or environments that might affect the refugees' living conditions. It was also not the intention to discuss the cause of the potential changes of the functional abilities. The project selected a Comprehensive Core Set of 106 codes among 1,464 possible codes (1) used by an interdisciplinary group of international and national experts in rehabilitation of traumatised refugees. The Comprehensive Core Set was furthermore reduced to a Brief Core Set of 32 codes by the interdisciplinary team (key persons) at the centres included in the project. From each centre six clients were randomly selected from those who fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All were scored within a four week period after the start, before any intervention was initiated, and up to a month after the first scoring. The results from this project led us to the conclusion that it is possible to develop an instrument based on the ICF classification. The instrument is useful for a general description of the total health condition (physical and mental functional ability as well as the environmental impact) of traumatized refugees. The tool helps describe changes in the functional abilities used in connection with the preparation of the plan of action. It can also be used to describe the refugees included in the study and their general condition. The ICF Core Set for traumatised refugees has not yet been validated, but the results of the project provide a basis for further development.