一般人都不會否認身心障礙是一個重要的公共衛生議題,但較少注意到是身心障礙這個概念的定義及其變遷。在任何學科都是一樣的,如果沒有對該領域之重要概念有深刻之理解,將無從進行研究、測量、評估、及分類。本文將簡單介紹身心障礙研究者對相關概念之推敲與演變。尤其是世界衛生組織在定義身心障礙此一概念的所做的努力,以及WHO所出版的「國際身心障礙分類手冊」如何對美國與日本政府的身心障礙政策產生影響。
Few would deny that disability and how to improve the well-beings of people living with disabilities are important public health issues. However, less attention has paid to the discussion on what it really means by disability and how the concept evolves. In any disciplines, measurement process begins with an understanding of the key concepts and their theoretical definitions. This article presents a brief introduction to the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps and International Classification of Functioning, Disabilities and Health (ICF), two crucial documents published by the World Health Organization and endorsed by the World Health Assembly. From the revisions made between these two documents, we can tell how the concept of disability has evolved. Moreover, official reports on disability policies from the United States and Japan are also introduced in this article in order to show how the two WHO documents have influenced US and Japan’s policy orientation towards disability.