Medical social work services

Social work services in the medical system are included in the basic health basket according to the state health law.

Social services at Meuhedet: National and regional supervisors

1. Medical social work

Meuhedet’s medical social workers assist patients facing medical crises and their families. They provide professional, humane support in helping patients cope with their illness and its implications on a personal and familial level. This process operates according to a bio-psycho-social model which views people holistically: the body and mind are connected and interact with the familial and social environment.

During treatment, medical social workers strive to assist patients cope with the emotional and mental aspects of their medical crises.

Who is eligible for this service?

All Meuhedet clients with an illness, health issue, or disability which affects them in one or more of the following ways: physically, emotionally, mentally, domestically, socially, or professionally.

What services do medical social workers provide?

• Designing treatment plans based on a psychosocial assessment of patients and their families
• Emotional coping assistance
• Helping patients achieve understanding and acceptance of their new medical conditions
• Assistance in setting coping goals to improve daily functioning
• Assistance locating personal and familial resources to improve coping with the new situation
• Guidance regarding services and privileges, assistance contacting relevant stakeholders inside or outside of Meuhedet who can help cope with the medical crisis
• Guidance for parents of children with disabilities or diseases
• First response services for victims of domestic violence

Each treatment plan for each issue is tailored for the patient’s social environment and language.

In what formats does Meuhedet offer medical social work?

• One-on-one, couples, and family appointments
• Psychoeducational group support meetings, information and coping tools focusing on: family members taking care of patients in nursing homes, education for parents of children with developmental issues, diabetics, cancer patients, women undergoing fertility treatments, quality of life, smoking cessation, and older patients.

Where can I see a social worker?

• At Meuhedet centers
• At clinics specializing in fields such as: diabetes, gynecology, geriatrics, and more
• Patients confined to their homes may see a social worker at home with the assistance of the home hospitalization department
• At child development institutes

How do I contact a social worker?

• Here on the website
• Via our support hotline: *3833
• At your local clinic with assistance from the medical office and clinic staff

2. Social work in child development

The social service department, an integral part of the multidisciplinary teams at the child development institute, is responsible for psychosocial assessment as well as holistic treatment of parents and their children. The role of a social worker specializing in child development is to help parents and their children with developmental disabilities cope with their developmental disabilities, handicaps, and life crises associated with treatment.

The objectives of psychosocial intervention in child development:

• Assistance and support for families whose children are undergoing tests at the institute
• Improved family awareness and understanding of the children under examination’s unique needs due to developmental disabilities
• Reinforcement of the family system and improvement of parent-child interactions so families can better cope with developmental disabilities
• Encouragement for children and improvement of their ability to face the implications of developmental disabilities
• Education of multidisciplinary teams at the institute and in the community to help provide effective coping tools for children and their families
• Assistance obtaining the communal rights of the children and their families and enlistment of the maximum possible communal resources to improve coping with developmental disabilities
• Contact with all medical and community stakeholders involved in treatment in order to help maintain continuity of care for children and families.
• Protection of children’s well-being in their environments

Care of children and their families may be given individually, to families, in groups, or in a combination of formats, according to need.

More questions? - We’d love to answer. Start a chat with a representative or call the support center at *3833.