The LIFE Forum is a vibrant platform that converges multidisciplinary expertise to illuminate the pathway toward optimal functioning, health and well-being.

On Wednesday, 15 February 2024, 9:00-17:30, a German-language Basic ICF Course will take place in-person at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland. This whole-day ICF course is a bit different from the two half-day ICF workshop the ICF Research Branch usually holds as it will focus on the clinical application of the ICF in rehabilitation.

Course program at-a-glance
09:00  Welcome and Introduction of goals
09:15  ICF Basics (Part I)
10:15  Interdisciplinary exchange / Networking Coffee Break
10:45  ICF Basics (Part II)
11:30  What a successful rehabilitation looks like and the role the ICF plays
12:00  The ICF - A common language in the interdisciplinary rehabilitation process?
12:45  Lunch Break

13:45  Short summary from the morning program
14:00 The important role of contextual factors in rehabilitation  - The family
14:35 Parallel workshops:
          Topic A: Use of the ICF in research and coding / ICF linking
          Topic B: Use of the ICF in psychiatric rehabilitation
          Topic C: Use of the ICF in neurological / geriatric rehabilitation 
          Topic D: Use of the ICF in cardiological, pneumological or orthopaedic rehabilitation 

16:20  Interdisciplinary exchange / Networking Coffee Break
16:45 Plenary discussion and conclusion

Course fee: CHF 250 (CHF 50 for students), including coffee breaks and lunch.

Registrations will be accepted until 15 January 2024. For workshop details, including the registration form, click on the globe . For questions, please feel free to contact the ICF Research Branch Coordinator at melissa.selb@paraplegie.ch.

To strengthen the ICF community in Germany, the Pettenkofer School of Public Health (PSPH) at Ludwig-Maximillians University Munich will again hold this year's German ICF Users Conference from Friday-Sunday, 17-19 November 2023 at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in Munich (Germany).

Information about this German-language conference, including the preliminary program and registration form, can be found here: .https://awk2023.com/.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Rehabilitation in Global Health Systems, hosted by the University of Lucerne (Switzerland), has been requested by the WHO Regional Office for Europe to conduct an online expert consultation about how rehabilitation is currently being delivered for persons 60+.

To ensure that all rehabilitation stakeholders are well represented, the Center for Rehabilitation in Global Health Systems is reaching out to you for your support in responding and disseminating the survey within your network. The survey will take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. Your support will be crucial to ensure that a comprehensive range of perspectives from all WHO regions and all relevant stakeholders is collected. 

The survey is available in all WHO official languages and can be accessed through the following link or QR code below. Link: https://uniluzern.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cH0Qg6Icrl7A8nA

Your cooperation in this endeavour would be greatly appreciated.
For questions or additional information, please contact the Center for Rehabilitation in Global Health Systems crghs@unilu.ch. 

https://www.unilu.ch/en/faculties/faculty-of-health-sciences-and-medicine/sections-centers-research-units/center-for-rehabilitation-in-global-health-systems/who-collaborating-center/

On 27 May 2023, the resolution "Strengthening Rehabilitation in Health Systems" was unanimously adopted by the 76th World Health Assembly. This landmark resolution calls for the allocation of more resources to address rehabilitation needs, for fully including rehabilitation as an essential health strategy for achieving universal health coverage, for developing feasible global health system rehabilitation targets and indicators for effective coverage of rehabilitation services by 2030. 

The resolution specifically mentions the ICF as "a standard language and conceptual basis for the definition and measurement of health, functioning and disability". And it urges Member States, among other things, "to enhance health information systems to collect information relevant to rehabilitation, including system-level rehabilitation data, and information on functioning, utilizing the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, ensuring data disaggregation by sex, age, disability and any other context-relevant factor, and compliance with data protection legislation, for a robust monitoring of rehabilitation outcomes and coverage".*

* Click on the PDF logo to access the WHO Resolution Rehabilitation

Further information: https://www.who.int/news/item/27-05-2023-landmark-resolution-on-strengthening-rehabilitation-in-health-systems

WHO video featuring Alarcos Cieza, former ICF Research Branch Steering Committee member and current Head of WHO's  Sensory Functions, Disability and Rehabilitation Unit:
https://twitter.com/WHO/status/1662538278183006211

The next available German-language ICF workshops conducted by the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) Munich, Germany will take place online. The 2-day (3.5 hours/day) workshop will cover a wide range of topics and comprises a basic module as well as specific modules.

Day 1: Basic module – 8 trainings sessions in in-person trainings or 3.5 hours in online trainings
Day 2: Advanced modules (optional) – 4 training sessions in in-person trainings or 3.5 hours in online trainings

Further information about the workshops and the registration form can be found here:
http://ihrs.ibe.med.uni-muenchen.de/veranstaltungen/icf_schulung1/index.html.