Teaching the ICF or using the ICF to teach? Lessons from first-time clinical practice

Area of Science:

• Physiotherapy Education
• Clinical Reasoning
• Biopsychosocial Frameworks

Background:

• Clinical education is crucial for physiotherapy training, but students often lack holistic clinical reasoning skills upon entering placements.
• The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) offers a biopsychosocial framework, yet its integration into early clinical education is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate second-year physiotherapy students' self-reported understanding and application of the ICF.
• To assess the impact of a redesigned clinical course with early clinical exposure on ICF utilization.

Main Methods:

• A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted.
• 106 second-year physiotherapy students from a South African university completed a self-developed survey assessing ICF understanding and application.
• Descriptive statistics were used to analyze perceived understanding and confidence levels.

Main Results:

• Students reported a significant improvement in perceived ICF understanding post-placement (mean increase from 6 to 9).
• Confidence in applying the ICF was notably high among students (mean = 8).
• A response rate of 76.9% (106 out of 138 eligible students) was achieved.

Conclusions:

• Early clinical exposure structured around the ICF framework can foster holistic clinical reasoning.
• Integrating the ICF into early physiotherapy placements may enhance patient-centered clinical reasoning skills and move beyond impairment-focused approaches.