Assessing Disability in Working Age Population
The objectives of this study are two-fold. First, it presents the basics of assessing working age populations for disability benefits. Increasingly, the operational staffs of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as of other development organizations, are being requested by governmental policy agencies for technical advice and assistance on how to reform their disability assessment system. Secondly, while acknowledging limitations, both in conception and implementation; it makes a case for why adopting the international classification of functioning, disability, and health (ICF) approach to disability assessment may be smart policy that corresponds well with the aims of modern disability policy that focuses on social and economic inclusion for individuals with disabilities, in the context of a recognition of their fundamental human rights. The study is a follow up work to the world report on disability that WHO and WB published jointly in June 2011. The world report made it clear that the process of disability assessment is an important lever of disability policy in any country, yet little is known about how disability assessment is conducted. This study responds to that knowledge gap, but it also describes a paradigm shift in the assessment of disability, one that moves from prevailing impairment and functional limitation approaches to a disability-based approach.
Summary: | The objectives of this study are
two-fold. First, it presents the basics of assessing working
age populations for disability benefits. Increasingly, the
operational staffs of the World Bank Group (WBG) and the
World Health Organization (WHO), as well as of other
development organizations, are being requested by
governmental policy agencies for technical advice and
assistance on how to reform their disability assessment
system. Secondly, while acknowledging limitations, both in
conception and implementation; it makes a case for why
adopting the international classification of functioning,
disability, and health (ICF) approach to disability
assessment may be smart policy that corresponds well with
the aims of modern disability policy that focuses on social
and economic inclusion for individuals with disabilities, in
the context of a recognition of their fundamental human
rights. The study is a follow up work to the world report on
disability that WHO and WB published jointly in June 2011.
The world report made it clear that the process of
disability assessment is an important lever of disability
policy in any country, yet little is known about how
disability assessment is conducted. This study responds to
that knowledge gap, but it also describes a paradigm shift
in the assessment of disability, one that moves from
prevailing impairment and functional limitation approaches
to a disability-based approach. |
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