Environmental Barriers Measurement

Environmental barriers measurement is the general methodological strategy for assessing the environmental-factors component of the WHO ICF, which conceives disability as the product of an interaction between a person and the world they inhabit. Rather than a single questionnaire, it is an approach: enumerate the relevant environmental domains defined by the ICF — products and technology, the natural and built environment, support and relationships, attitudes, and services, systems, and policies — and then characterize each factor by its valence (whether it acts as a barrier or a facilitator) and its extent. Because the ICF treats the environment as something that can either hinder or help, the strategy deliberately measures both negative and positive influences rather than only obstacles. The assessed factors are then linked statistically to participation outcomes, and the deeper aim is to model the interaction between a person's capacity and their environment, so that the disabling or enabling role of context can be estimated. Specific instruments such as the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors are particular realizations of this broader strategy.