Functional decline of an institutionalized elderly woman: applicability of the model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse the clinical functional evolution of an elderly institutionalized woman, focussing on the way socioeconomic context and family-related conditions influenced her health, as well as to discuss the probable relationship between contextual events and the patient's functional decline, by following the conceptual model of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF). ICF was created by the World Health Organization to address different areas of health and to establish a common language in health description, allowing a multidimensional description of direct and indirect factors related to the clinical-functional framework, targeting interprofessional interventions both in outpatient clinics and in institutional environment. The patient went through distinct stages in the long-term care facility, and deceased after 12 months. The discussion of the case allows for planning better strategies that can be used to deal with similar events.