The standard
The IRWFA Standard.
One shared competency standard for the rehabilitation workforce — built on the world's leading frameworks, proven by an independently validated measure, and applied so a professional trained anywhere can be trusted everywhere.
01 What it is.
The IRWFA Standard is a common, outcome-based definition of what a rehabilitation professional should be able to do — the competencies, the supervised practice, and the assessment that make a credential mean the same thing across institutions and borders.
02 What it rests on.
It is built upon the field's established frameworks, cited accurately: WHO ICF and the WHO Rehabilitation Competency Framework; ICD-11, ICHI and SNOMED CT; ISO 21001 and ISO/IEC 17024; outcome- and competency-based education; and India's NEP 2020, NSQF and National Credit Framework. It aligns with WHO Rehabilitation 2030 and the UN CRPD.
03 How it is proven.
A standard is only as good as its measure. The Alliance's anchor measure, AbilityScore® (0–1000), was independently validated against Vineland-3, CARS-2, Bayley-4 and ABAS-3.
AbilityScore® independently validated: r = 0.91 · ICC = 0.88 · 0.93 forecast accuracy · vs Vineland-3, CARS-2, Bayley-4, ABAS-3
Methodology and validation are open and DOI-anchored: Zenodo 10.5281/ZENODO.19482123 and 10.5281/ZENODO.19482476.
04 How it is applied — and its limit.
Candidate institutions are assessed and tiered by the Institutional Fit & Readiness Index (IFRI), a 0–1000 instrument applied against the RCI's published register and its Centres of Excellence. The Standard complements the RCI and does not supplant it; it claims no authority reserved to any statutory regulator.
The Invitation
Join the alliance that will carry this field forward. Membership is free in the establishment period; everyone eligible should join sooner rather than later.
members@irwfa.org · 9100 181 181