Enhancing Participation

The focus of occupational therapy and physical therapy interventions for children with disabilities is to provide services aimed at reducing impairment, increasing function and enhancing full participation in everyday activities and in their communities. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently adopted a revised disability classification, the International Classification of Functioning (WHO, 2001). This framework is a revision of the 1980 International Classification of Impairment, Disability and Handicap. In this revision, impairments are now labeled body function and structure, disability is activities and handicap is replaced by participation. The classification also includes factors that influence activity and participation, both personal and environmental. The increased focus of the WHO classification on participation is only one indication that participation is becoming increasingly important in health care and rehabilitation. In the International Classification of Functioning (ICF), participation is described as person’s involvement in life situations and includes areas of personal maintenance, mobility, social relationships, education, leisure, spirituality and community life. In this editorial, I will briefly explore the concept of participation and its importance for our disciplines and this journal. For children and youth with disabilities, participation in activities is the context in which they learn skills, do tasks and activities, develop friends, and find satisfaction. Participation is extremely important for a child’s development. However, we also know that children with dis-