Swiss Paraplegic Research and the University of Lucerne have developed the online course "ICF-StARS", which is freely available (no cost for participating): https://www.swissmooc.ch/courses/StARS/

Course objective
The course provides participants the basics for understanding functioning and for the reporting of functioning information 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: 4 September - 8 October 2023 (online); Enrolment has started and will be possible until October 1st. 
Mode: Self-study with flexible attendance
Workload: 30 hours in total, equivalent to 1 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) point
Language: English

Registration
Please enrol via the official website https://www.swissmooc.ch/courses/StARS/.To enrol, clikc the red "SIGN IN" button at the top right-hand corner of the website.
Those without Swiss university credentials have to first register with the Swiss MOOC Service by selecting the "SWITCH edu-ID" option upon clicking the "SIGN IN" button. This is required in order to complete the course enrolment.

Description
Funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation within the framework of the National Research Programme 74 "Smarter Health Care", 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. 

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

A new ICF Core Set-based instrument is now available - the Hearing and Functioning in Everyday Life Questionnaire (HFEQ).

Developed based on the ICF Core Set for hearing loss, the HFEQ explores the ability of a person with hearing difficulties to function in everyday life. This questionnaire comprises questions about health, hearing, communication, individual resources and social support. It is currently available in English and Swedish. 

The development and validation of HFEQ is detailed in the peer-reviewed publication Karlsson E, et al. Hearing and Functioning in Everyday Life Questionnaire: Development and Validation of an ICF-Based Instrument. Ear Hear. 2023 Jun 21. Early online. For the abstract, click on the italicized reference.

To access the HFEQ, click the HFEQ image or here: https://hfeq.audf.se/. 
For further questions, kindly contact elin.karlsson@oru.se.

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.