Current challenges in disability evaluation and the need for a goal-oriented approach based on the ICF: a qualitative stakeholder analysis in the context of the Swiss accident insurance.
Urban SchweglerBruno TrezziniBarbara SchiffmannPublished in: Disability and rehabilitation (2019)
Implementing a goal-oriented ICF-based standard may help to approach current challenges in disability evaluation. Our findings support the development of such a standard for Suva's eligibility determination, but also point at the importance of involving key stakeholders to ensure its applicability and cross-disciplinary acceptance.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONPoor standardization and transparency as well as objectivity and efficiency issues represent key challenges in disability evaluation, as experienced by the different stakeholder groups involved in an eligibility determination process.A standardized ICF-based approach focusing on the documentation of claimant-job mismatches and their determinants is promising for improving transparency, validity and comparability of eligibility decisions.With its focus on claimants' ability to participate at work such an ICF-based standard has the potential to ensure a goal-oriented planning of assessments and interventions in the eligibility determination process.Our study provides specific targets for optimizing eligibility determination in disability evaluation but also for ensuring a customized and effective return to work after sustaining an injury.