Functional health

Functional health is a concept of assistance for the disabled . It was developed and first implemented in Switzerland. In particular, it is one of the key concepts of the Swiss industry association INSOS. It was created on the same basis as the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). In contrast to the pure ICF classification system, the concept of functional health makes this basic idea usable for practical work in assistance for the disabled, whereby it does not serve to record needs and performance. The concept of functional health determines that a person is “functionally” not healthy if the compensation mechanisms and / or context factors and / or the person concerned (even willingly) do not allow this compensation.

The map and its meaning

In the concept of functional health, just like in the ICF, five areas are identified that are of central importance for the development of a person's health and personality

1. The body with its body functions and structures
2. the activities and the competent experience in them
3. the areas of life and the degree of normalization of these areas of life

as well as 4th and 5th: personal resources and those of the environment. Due to the classic bio-medical approach to humans, the area of ​​the body with its bodily functions and structures was the focus of assistance. With the concept of functional health, four other central areas are added to this area, which then, in their interaction, make it possible to make statements about health in its entirety. Through the new bio-psycho-social approach with its comprehensive description of a person's health, this can be put in relation to other, comparable people and thus statements can be made about the deviation from the "normal" and thus the degree of disability. A comparable, healthy person of the same sex, age and region is always used as a reference.

A person is functionally healthy if:

Your physical functions and structures correspond to a general average (healthy body). You can do everything that is generally expected of a same-sex person of comparable age and coming from the same region (competent experience). They can participate in all areas of life, as would be expected from a person without impairment (normalized areas of life).

A person is as healthy as possible when they can participate as competently as possible in normalized areas of life with as healthy a body as possible.

In contrast to the bio-medical approach, the concept of functional health tries to take a holistic life and development situation into account and also includes personal and personal factors as well as environmental factors with their resources and barriers.

The job for the disabled

The concept of functional health in the practice of assistance for the disabled means a real and comprehensive paradigm shift. The required services are no longer derived from a specific damage or impairment, but from what a person with a certain impairment needs in order to be able to participate and participate in the most normalized and diverse areas of life as competently, unhindered and equally as possible.

Accordingly, the assignment to the disabled assistance can be described as follows:

“Professional services in assistance for the disabled are aimed at improving or improving the functional health of a person. locate and reduce impairing factors. This is where the individual resources of a person and those of their social environment are not (any longer) sufficient (context factors). [1] “You have the task of reducing this deviation or at least maintaining it for as long as possible.

The focus is on the competent participation of people with disabilities. This is by no means about normalization and integration at “any price”, but always about creating areas of life and situations in which people with all possible impairments can experience themselves competently and healthily ( social inclusion ).

As health is understood as an interplay of the above-mentioned five factors, the corresponding services are aimed equally at all five areas and in each case weigh their effect on the overall interplay of all factors.

The challenge in providing competent help for people with an impairment or handicap is no longer necessarily the help itself. It is difficult to strike the fine line between being under and overburdening in daily interaction and thus getting positive feedback in joint activities and taking them seriously of the human being as a fully-fledged counterpart. In assistance for the handicapped, the professionals have to ask themselves every day what kind of help a person needs in order to be as healthy and competent as possible in a normalized life. In order to answer this question, it is no longer sufficient to know how "one" does it. It requires consistent cooperation and the consideration of all factors that shape and influence a life situation.

See also

• Organization of care for people with disabilities (GBM)
• Help needs of people with disabilities (HMB according to Metzler)
• System of service description, quality description, quality inspection and fee calculation (SYLQUE)
• Quality of life in homes for adults with intellectual disabilities (LEWO)

Web links

• www.funktionale-gesundheit.de Caritas Association for Stuttgart
• CAS Functional Health of the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (HSA)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Functional health at INSOS
2. ↑ Schuntermann, Michael F. Introduction to the ICF p. 19 ff
3. ↑ Auckenthaler, Anna short textbook Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. P. 218 ff
4. ↑ Rentsch, Hans-P. ICF in rehabilitation .: the practical application of the international classification of functionality, disability and health in everyday rehabilitation, p. 289 ff  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Download , interview with Ivo Lötscher-Zwinggi, Managing Director of Insos Switzerland, in CURAVIVA 10/09, p. 38 (as of June 13, 2016).
6. ↑ W. Cibis, comments on the term "functional health" (PDF; 125 kB) Federal Working Group for Rehabilitation (BAR)
7. ↑ Oberholzer, Welsch: Functional health as an instrument for the further development of professional participation for people with a disability Lecture FNHW and LAG WfbM Baden-Württemberg March 12, 2012 ( Memento of the original from April 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link became automatic used and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ Daniel Oberholzer Concept and instruments for recording and describing the current and future performance requirements for professional services in the area of ​​disabled assistance. FNHW Northwestern Switzerland HSA (PDF; 471 kB)
9. ↑ MF Schuntermann, The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 282 kB), VDR, Rehabilitation Science Department, Berlin