Swiss Paraplegic Research and the University of Lucerne are again holding the online course "ICF-StARS". It is freely available (no cost for participating): https://www.openlearnity.org/courses/StARS/

Course objective
The course provides the basics for understanding functioning and its reporting in a standardized manner by using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF).

Target group
The course is aimed at interested people who work with functioning data (assessment and reporting), including healthcare professionals, researchers, students, quality managers and other professionals in the health system.

When: 21 September  - 25 October 2026  (online); Enrollment is open until October 3rd. 
Mode: Self-study with flexible attendance
Workload: 25 hours in total, equivalent to 1 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) point
Language: English

Registration
Please sign in via the official website. Participants without Swiss university credentials must create a SWITCH edu-ID account when registering. This can be done using any valid email address. When signing in, select “SWITCH edu-ID” when prompted to “Connect with Institution/Campus Credentials.”

Description
The course introduces the concept of functioning and its importance in the health system. Moreover, it gives an overview of Standardized Assessment and Reporting Systems for functioning information (StARS) based on the ICF. The course includes the introduction of a set of standards, tools and methods to assess and report information on functioning as well as the presentation of exemplary applications in practice and research.

If you have any questions about the course, feel free to contact the course organizer at the University of Lucerne: crghs@unilu.ch. 

Rethinking Health and Rehabilitation - Towards a Functioning-Centered Health System is a collection of papers in which the long-standing ICF Research Branch Directior, Prof. Gerold Stucki, and Steering Committee member, Prof. Jerome Bickenbach share their insights gain in their collaboration over the last two decades. This book is accessible here for free (https://zenodo.org/records/15315475) and addresses:

• Functioning as the foundation of health, individual and well-being, and societal welfare
• Functioning as the third health indicator
• Rehabilitation as a universal strategy
• Integration of functioning data into national health information systems
• A new understanding of disability as a continuum of functioning
• Bridging rehabilitation and inclusion
• Methodological and conceptual consequences of the "functioning revolution"

Almost 10 years ago, the ICF Core Sets for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were developed. Since then, Prof. Sven Bölte and colleagues at Karolinska Institute (Sweden) have operationalized the core sets in self- and proxy versions as well as on a digital platform. Validation studies have been conducted, and most recently, a randomised pilot trial has been initiated to evaluate the acceptability and the usability of the self-report version of the ICF Core Sets for Autism Strengths and Needs Asessment in adult diagnostic services. This is a major milestone and part of a success story of the ICF Core Sets for ASD.

The open-access publication on the study can be accessed here: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/16/3/e103303?rss=1. 
Day M, Scargill K, Poole D, Kellar I, Young TA, Bölte S, Clarke S, Lodge KM, Woods A, Freeth M. Feasibility of the ICF CoreSets for Autism Strengths and Needs Assessment in NHS diagnostic services in England: protocol for a randomised pilot trial. BMJ Open. 2026 Mar 3;16(3):e103303.

Millions of people worldwide live with visual impairment, which profoundly affects daily functioning, participation, and quality of life. Until recently, no ICF Core Set specific for vision loss had existed (beyond the ICF Core Sets for deafblindness). This gap in the ICF framework has now been filled.

An international project
The development of the ICF Core Sets for Vision Loss is a global initiative led by a scientific team from Amsterdam UMC (Lorenzo Billiet, Prof. Ruth van Nispen, and Dr. Hilde Van der Aa) and Ghent University (Prof. Dominique van de Velde and Dr. Stijn de Baets), in collaboration with organizations and various blindness organizations worldwide.
The project included an extensive preparatory phase with a systematic literature review, qualitative research, expert and patient surveys, and an international consensus conference. This resulted in two sets:

• Comprehensive Core Set: 110 codes covering all relevant aspects, including those important for advocacy and policy
• Brief Core Set: 12 key codes, ideal for individual clinical encounters

The full sets are available via this link: https://osf.io/7xea3
For more information, feel free to contact the scientific lead Lorenzo Billiet at l.billiet@amsterdamumc.nl.

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.