Chronic health conditions are viewed and conceptualized in various ways by people who are experiencing them, treating them, or creating policies around them. There are various models of disability that can explain these views, and it is important to acknowledge how these models can impact the outcome of a person living with a chronic health condition.
For example, if a health care provider views chronic health conditions primarily through a medical model, a patient may feel their health condition is just a problem to fix, and that their other needs, such as financial security, housing, and trauma, are not important factors in to consider during treatment. The different models of disability can be found in detail in the Models of Disability section in our Accessibility and Accommodations toolkit.
A framework that is not discussed in the Accessibility and Accommodations toolkit is the ICF model (WHO, 2001). The ICF model is a framework that describes health conditions as a dynamic interaction of the following components in the table below:
| Component | What it means | Some Examples |
| Body functions and structures | How a person’s body is able to function | Mental function, immune function, pain, speech function, respiratory function |
| Activities | What a person is able (or not able) to do at an individual level | Ability to move around, communication, retaining information from class, general tasks |
| Participation | How a person is able (or not able) to participate or get involved in all areas of life within a societal level | Maintaining social life, participate in school, help roommates with chores |
| Environmental factors | How the environment impacts their abilities and function within different levels | Natural environment, human-made structures, attitudes around the person, technology, policies |
| Personal factors | How certain personal factors may influence their abilities and function within different levels | Sex, gender, race, age, having children, occupation |
Table 2: Components of the ICF model framework
This framework aims to look at disability and health conditions holistically and understand how different areas may interact with each other to make a person’s experience worse or better.
Image 1: Components of the ICF Model (WHO, 2001)
The diagram below models an example of a 27-year-old woman with panic disorder and how different aspects of the health condition interact to impact her life and her abilities, such as handling stress. This framework also acknowledges the reciprocal nature between problems of emotional functions and restricted social relationships. You can read more about the ICF model and framework here.
Image 2: ICF model on a case study (WHO, 2001)
