Le Processus De Production Des Handicaps: Vers Un Cadre Conceptuel Renouvele

Abstract

Since the mid-1970s the development of a specific conceptual framework for the consequences of disease and trauma has been occurring at the international level. A growing awareness among health professionals of the chronic physical, intellectual, and emotional problems which are reducing the abilities and social autonomy of a large percentage of the population have led the World Health Organization (WHO) to work on this matter. In this paper, the author explains the conceptual evolution of the field of disabilities. He defines the challenges and potential uses of an international classification of consequences of disease and trauma. This article proposes an interactive conceptual framework for the identification of handicaps and directions for the revision of the WHO's International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH). It is an invitation for the Canadian mental-health field to express points of view on the present process of the harmonization of terminology and concepts on the Canadian and international scenes. The English version of the proposal to revise the third level of the ICIDH (handicaps) can be obtained from the Canadian Society for the ICIDH, 1399, rue Thibodeau, Lac St-Charles, Québec GOA 2H0, Canada.