Research Progress
Phase 1
Literature Review, Overseas Experience, Interviews and Focus Groups
Literature review on the theoretical framework and application of the ICF system on transportation services
ICF framework has been used to provide guidance for policies and operation of healthcare and public services. Yet, it has not been applied for prioritisation of any public services
ICF was found useful to quantify individuals’ body functions, level of activity and participation, and environmental factors
Investigation of overseas policies and operation of transportation services for persons with disabilities
Review on the system of the eligibility for using transportation services for individuals with disabilities from the publications of the transport operation organisations in the US, Canada and Taiwan
The jurisdiction in the selected districts may only adopt one or two factors to determine users’ eligibility and some do not adopt any system for prioritising
For example, Taiwanese adopted the functional status and environmental factors only for the eligibility determination
The usage of various components of the ICF into the Rehabus services could provide a multifaceted model for prioritising
Engagements with the government, corporate governance, execution, and user of the Rehabus services
Different stakeholders are generally open to the idea of using comprehensive ICF concepts to the service prioritisation
The new system would lead to a fairer service allocation
Main concern was whether there would be sufficient human resources for conducting ICF-based assessments on current and potential Rehabus users
The operation team and users suggested that the Government provides more resources to support the newly established system and the related assessments
The collected opinions of stakeholders indicated that the prioritisation of the Rehabus service could be established through the results of the ICF-based assessment, including:
Body functions
Characteristics of the trip
Level of activity
Level of participation in life situation
Environmental factors
Social support
Phase 2
Considerations for Establishing Prioritisation Algorithm
To establish an prototype ICF-based priority system of Rehabus services, this phase aims:
(1) to conduct ICF-based assessments on individuals with various types and severity of disabilities to establish ICF-based case studies
(2) to establish expert panels to review and rank the priority of the Rehabus services of case studies established in order to identify the importance of different ICF factors
A total of 60 persons with disabilities and/ or their carers were recruited to construct ICF-based profiles. The ICF-based profiles were then reviewed by the expert panel to determine the importance and relevance of the different ICF components for Rehabus services prioritisation. The preliminary findings are as follows:
Body function domain is considered as the most important factor
Followed by trip purpose, activity domain, participation domain, social support and environmental domain (listed in order)
Social support and trip purpose are the two non-ICF factors taken into consideration for prioritisation.
Phase 3
Verifying Proposed Prioritisation Algorithms
Aims to further validate the identified ICF-based assessment and the algorithm-based priority system. The initial three proposed prioritisation algorithms are as follows:
Proposed Prioritisation Algorithm 1
Adopting a linear prioritisation approach, includes the 6 factors with the rankings: (1) Body function domain; (2) Trip purpose; (3) Activity domain; (4) Participation domain; (5) Social support; and (6) Perceived environmental domain
Proposed Prioritisation Algorithm 2 & 3
Three-tier approach is proposed
Level of functioning based on the weighted ICF scores (calculated by Body function, Activity domain, participation domain, family/social support, and perceived environmental domain) (family/ social support is a non-ICF factors)
Trip purpose
Geographical conditions
The structure of Two 3-tier Prioritisation Algorithms
Prioritisation Algorithm 2: Level of functioning – Trip purpose – Geographic conditions
Prioritisation Algorithm 3: Trip purpose – Level of functioning – Geographic conditions
A larger group of persons with disabilities will be invited for personal assessment, through online recruitment and invitation to various organisations.
The generated ICF-based profiles and priority scores will then be submitted to the expert panel for evaluation with respect to acceptability, fairness and satisfaction, and cost effectiveness
Gather views on the prioritisation algorithms from different stakeholders through stakeholder engagement
For the content and information of the stakeholder engagement, please click here.