Given the universal concepts and language of the ICF, it is timely for clinicians, educators, researchers and everyone working with youth and adolescents with disabilities and chronic health conditions to incorporate its framework in transition practice and research. The ICF has potential to improve communication and collaboration among health professionals working within multidisciplinary teams to impact adult health outcomes that are meaningful to youth and families. The ICF also encourages a holistic approach to care by focusing on personal and environmental factors beyond health, thus professionals should embrace its theory, framework and applications in practice and research. We present the YouthKIT, a tool that uses concepts of the ICF to address transition needs of adolescents with chronic health conditions.

1. Research Making
a Difference
www.canchild.ca
How Can We Use the ICF to
Enhance Transition Services
for Youth with Disabilities
May 18, 2015
Tram Nguyen MSc. PhD Candidate &
Dr. Olaf Kraus de Camargo
School of Rehabilitation Science

2. Objectives
1. The objective of this workshop is to
introduce the World Health Organization’s
(WHO) International Classification of
Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF),
and demonstrate how a transition
intervention (YouthKIT™) can be a tool for
implementation of the ICF to enhance
transition services and delivery of care.

3. What elements were important for the
transition of Martin?
https://youtu.be/BxAY1lc-prM

4. Transition Facilitators for
Martin

5. What is the ICF?
Health
Condition
Body Functions
& Structures
Activities Participation
Environmental
Factors
Personal
Factors

6. Traditional Reading of the ICF

7. Person-centred Reading of the ICF

8. Getting to know the person
Who are you?
What do/would you like to do?

9. Where and how do you live?

10. Now, let’s focus on what you
want!

11. Transition in the Systems of Care
Health
Condition
Body Functions & Structures:
continue care to maintain function
and structure where possible,
emotional wellbeing
Activities:
enable to perform
usual activities
Participation:
focus on the
participation goals of the
individual
Environmental Factors:
promote independent living,
access to healthcare, education,
justice system. Relationships &
Supports
Personal Factors:
Personal preferences and
characteristics of the individual
should be respected
Freedom of Choice
Kraus de Camargo, O. (2011). Systems of care: transition from the bio-psycho-
social perspective of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health. Child Care Health Dev, 37(6), 792–799. doi:10.1111/j.1365-
2214.2011.01323.x

12. Falling off a cliff!

13. Transition
Phase I: preparation
Phase II: the journey
Phase III: the landing
Stewart, D. (2009). Transition to adult services for young people with
disabilities: current evidence to guide future research. Dev Med Child
Neurol, 51 Suppl 4, 169–173. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8749.2009.03419.x

14. Transition
Phase I: preparation
The ‘preparation’ phase takes place during a
youth’s late childhood and early adolescence as
they begin to look ahead and prepare for adult life
(Stewart et al. 2009).

15. Transition
Phase II: the journey
The ‘journey’ phase takes place during the
transition itself, and represents a period in which
the adolescent is experiencing changes from one
developmental stage, environment or role to
another (Stewart et al. 2009).

16. Transition
Phase III: the landing
The phase of ‘landing’ in the adult world
recognizes that adolescents will reach a
destination, with outcomes and goals being met,
and time taken to ‘refuel’ before starting on
another journey along their life course (Stewart
et al. 2009).

17. Approach
• Demonstration of how the YouthKIT
can be used as a tool to facilitate
transition within the biopsychosocial
framework of the ICF

18. Youth KIT™
An organizational tool consisting of 10 modules
designed to promote self-management (Stewart et al.,2009).
 Personal Information
 Social Information
 Social Activities
 School Information
 Work Information
 Budget Information
 Personal Care and Life Skills
 Medical and Health Information
 Obtaining Information
 Sharing Information

19. YouthKIT™ Video
www.keepingittogether.ca

20. YouthKIT™ & ICF
YouthKIT ICF
Personal Information Personal Factors
Information About Me Activities & Participation
Social Information Environmental Factors (Family & Friends)
School Information Environmental Factors (School)
Work Information Environmental Factors (Work)
Budget Information Environmental Factors (Finances)
Personal Care and Life Skills Activities & Participation, Environmental
Factors
Health Condition/Disability Information Health Condition, Environmental Factors
(Health Professionals, Medications)

21. Implementation & Evaluation
• Youth KIT™ was used as an intervention in a
four-year longitudinal transition study.
• Surveys on utilization of the Youth KIT™ at 2
pre- and 2 post-transfer study visits; post-
transfer qualitative interviews with youth.

22. Key Findings
Highest ranked modules:
• Personal Information(90%)
• Social information (86%) and
• Medical and Health information (86%)
Gorter, J. W., Stewart, D., Cohen, E., Hlyva, O., Morrison, a., Galuppi, B., Nguyen,
T … Weiser, N. (2015). Are two youth-focused interventions sufficient to empower
youth with chronic health conditions in their transition to adult healthcare: a mixed-
methods longitudinal prospective cohort study. BMJ Open, 5(5), e007553–
e007553. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007553

23. Feedback
• Bursary: Definition? (Canadian lingo)
• Personal Care/Life Skills: Complicated words, should be
more youth friendly, take into account literacy level,
assistive devices in home and community
• Different modules for different types of disabilities
• Youth with Dyslexia? Youth with Autism?
• Add the mentor information or who would be a good
mentor for the different modules, offer options of
mentors.
• Use faces instead of yes/no

24. A successful transition

25. Thank-you &
Acknowledgements
• CanChild Team
• TRACE Team
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/cgi/doi/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007553