Escorting families after a medical crisis
A family that has experienced a medical crisis will receive training and counseling that will be initiated at the stage of hospitalization by professional volunteers (Ofek officers) who have been specifically trained for the job.
The accompaniment will include a full analysis of the patient and family situation, as well as continuous professional guidance in accordance with the needs and abilities of the family and the professional evaluation of Ofek’s professional management team.
At the end of the escort, the family will have significant knowledge and tools to enable them to lead their lives in the shadow of the medical crisis.Background:
The “Ofek Back to Life” organization was established in 2013 by a group of parents of children with special needs, volunteers and professionals. Headed by Ruth and Amiad Taub, Ofek’s parents, who was seriously injured at the age of 8 months due to medical malpractice.
After the incident, the parents and siblings were forced to spend about a year in hospitals, during which they were exposed to the hardships faced by patients and their families after and during a crisis.
The project:
Escorting children and families after a medical crisis by trained professionals.
The need for the project:
After a medical crisis, the parents are forced to stay with their child in the hospital for a long period of time, during which they are exposed to various hardships. The lack of response from the medical establishment has created the need for assistance to parents and family members who are coping with a family member who has been ill or injured and with the medical, mental, economic and bureaucratic crises they experience. In addition to the crisis during this period, the family finds it difficult to maintain normal life.
Since the state does not provide any framework to assist patients and their families after discharge from the hospital, Ofek organization took it upon itself to assist the families and provide them with “fishing rods” – with the help of which they will ultimately build their lives in the best possible way. Today, no one accompanies these families since the social workers in the hospitals are unable to cope with the increasing number of cases, and because of their training (to provide a response to all the cases) they are not able to give full attention to each case. As these families return to their lives, the families and the state will benefit in the social and economic aspects.
Our uniqueness:
Today there is no association that helps families after a medical crisis by trained volunteers.
Locating the target population and recruiting them for the project:
Since 2014, the “Ofek Back to Life” organization has been operating branches that assist families after a medical crisis throughout the country (Petah Tikva, Ramat Gan, Jerusalem, Mateh Binyamin, etc.).
In the branches, assistance can be obtained by adapting volunteers to accompany families who have undergone a medical crisis and to operate the community assistance system, which assists the families immediately through a volunteer network:
• Initiated by the association for families in need of assistance.
• Facebook advertising of events initiated by the organization and funded promotion for targeted locations.
Goals:
1. Immediate support after the disaster / event through the training of “Ofek officers” and a volunteer bank.
2. Assisting patients and their families whose lives have changed in the wake of a medical crisis and returning to the cycle of life.
3. Bringing the issue to public order to prevent medical malpractice and discrimination in the health care system.
Expected changes and results among project participants:
1. Thanks to the training, volunteers will be able to accompany families and provide them with significant knowledge and tools that will enable them to lead their lives in the shadow of the medical crisis.
2. The volunteers participate in discussions in the Knesset Health, Welfare and Education Committees and promote legislation in various fields.
3. The Ofek organization chooses volunteers who will be able to fight and fight for the rights of special families by training them to placement committees in special education.
Usage metrics:
Professional evaluation for the duration of the follow-up and assistance, followed by the family’s needs and abilities, as well as feedback during all the guidance from both the families and the staff of the social workers in the hospitals.
Implementation: Escorting families after a medical crisis
1. Locating and sorting volunteers.
2. A training course for “Ofek Officers” is given.
3. Close cooperation with the Department of Social Work in a hospital.
4. Placement of a volunteer in the family by the coordinator of the project and after consultation with a lawyer at the hospital.
5. Ongoing supervision under Ofek’s professional staff.
6. Ending guidance and referral to rehabilitation in the community + associations relevant to the patient / illness.
Challenges:
Natural crises that accompany any family that has experienced a crisis. To this end, the association employs professionals such as social workers, doctors and lawyers to provide assistance as needed and solve the various problems that come with and after the crisis.