Towards Person-Centred Care: Using the Capability Approach Together with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

This paper explores how integrating the Capability Approach (CA) with the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) can advance person-centred care. While the ICF provides a valuable biopsychosocial framework for understanding functioning and disability, it lacks an explicit focus on agency, choice, and individual values—elements central to the CA. By combining the two approaches, care practices and policies can better capture what people value and enhance their capabilities to live the lives they have reason to value. Drawing on four case studies in health, employment, education, and end-of-life care, the authors illustrate how this integration supports participatory and inclusive interventions. The paper concludes that using the CA alongside the ICF strengthens policy design, implementation, and evaluation by embedding agency at the core of care systems, ultimately promoting human flourishing and the realization of person-centred care.