National TOIMIA network improves the measurement of functioning in Finland

Information of the functioning and disability of individuals is needed in numerous purposes in social and health care. Hundreds of outcome measures are in use, many of them without evidence of validity and reliability. In 2007, based on a broad collaboration of partners in research and clinical institutions, a national network TOIMIA was formed. The network aims at improving the quality of the measurement and harmonizing the measures and terminology.

TOIMIA network consists of experts from different professions, working in social and health care, research and education. Expert groups collect and evaluate measurement tools used in disability assessment in special areas, e.g. among the elderly, the working aged people, severely disabled persons, and at the populational level. Several recommendations on how to measure functioning in these contexts have been prepared. An open database was created to distribute the information on the measurement tools, in order to harmonize the measurement in Finland.

The database contains over 60 central and much used measurement methods, which have been evaluated by experts. The evaluation is based on a review of the validity, reliability and feasibility. The terms and concepts in the measures are linked to ICF for conceptual analysis. The applicability of the measurement tool in clinical practice, based on the information of its psychometric properties and clinical feasibility, is expressed in verbal and visual way using traffic light symbols. The evaluated measures are available in the TOIMIA database: the forms and manuals in Finnish, the background information and information on the psychometric properties.

There is a great need of commonly agreed, valid measurement tools in social and health care and their electronic IT systems. The national TOIMIA network provides valid measurement tools by an open access database. It is an important step towards uniform practices in the measurement of functioning in Finland.