Social capital, disability, and usefulness of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for the development and monitoring of policy interventions

Abstract

This paper provides theoretical links between the model of health and disability based on the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the complex notion of ‘social capital’. In practice, social capital mechanisms could contribute to better health through their use in health-promotion actions, and, in general, through their integration in inclusive policies and systems for facilitating the biopsychosocial model of disability. The present paper shows how ICF could offer an informational platform for conceptualizing and potentially measuring the causal linkages between social capital and health and disability.

Keywords:

• social networks
• social participation
• public health
• persons with disabilities