Haruv Institute - Annual Report 2017

STUDY AND TRAINING PROGRAMS ׀ HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONS

TRAINING PROGRAMS FOR OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS

Practical Training in Occupational Therapy with Child Victims of Abuse and Neglect Goal: The program is aimed at students of Occupational Therapy, to provide training for those specializing in working with maltreated children. Background: Occupational therapists are trained to assist in increasing a child’s participation and improving his sense of capability. However, learning about the unique characteristics of child victims of abuse and neglect is not an integral part of the professional training. Some of the children who come under the care of the occupational therapists – children on the autistic spectrum, children with ADHD, learning disabilities and other developmental obstacles – must deal, in addition to developmental problems, with trauma or communication disorders that may not have been identified earlier. Within this training framework, the students were exposed to selected issues in their field, through both independent learning and participating in the Haruv Institute’s activities. Target Population: Occupational Therapy students from the School of Occupational Therapy, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Hadassah. Number of Sessions: In 2017, a pilot program of 8 sessions was launched (March – May, 2017), followed by two full training programs (June-July, 2019 – 8 weeks; November 2017 – January 2018 – 12 weeks).

Participants: 5 students

Location: The Haruv Children's Campus

Budget: NIS 10,000

Feedback:

Throughout the training program, I learned what characterizes maltreated children, but there is one characteristic that illustrates how complex this topic really is: The difference in the impact on each child and the variety of aspects of the child that may be harmed as a result of the trauma. The work [in occupational therapy] on campus is sensitive and personal and enables the child to interact with an additional caregiver that will allow him to express himself and act within areas that he has interest in, in an enabling and mediating manner. Here, the children are emotionally available to acquire skills crucial to their development.

ANNUAL REPORT 2017 I 49