[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 contextual factors of the ICF draft from the Working Group "ICF" of Specialty Group II of the Geman Society for Social Medicine and Prevention]. / Personbezogene Faktoren der ICF - Entwurf der AG "ICF" des Fachbereichs II der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Sozialmedizin und Prävention (DGSMP).

Personal contextual factors play an essential part in the ICF model in relation to patient-centred care. It is generally assumed that their classification must refer to the country-specific social and cultural setting and its particular linguistic terms. Therefore personal factors are not classified as yet by the WHO for general use. In Germany in 2006 a group of experts working on the medical advisory board of statutory health insurance published a proposal for a systematic classification of relevant personal factors to describe the background of an individual's life and living. This classification was now further analysed and thoroughly revised by a more comprehensive group of German specialists working in different health care insurances and institutions, authorised by the German Society for Social Medicine and Prevention (DGSMP), supported by German-speaking Swiss ICF specialists. This classification is published as work in progress intending to broaden and prepare the process of discussion for a consensus conference to be held in Germany in 2011.