Vision
The Ruth Vrobel Foundation (RVF) provides support to chronically ill patients and their families in Israel.
The objective of the foundation is to reduce the gap between the high quality of medical services in Israel and the lack of an appropriate social and emotional response for chronic patients and their families.
The foundation’s vision is:
“To enable all chronic patients in Israel and their families to receive emotional and Social support to help to challenge and manage their sickness”.
Activity
The organization proposes a multi-year program to connect families coping with a chronic illness in their home with existing services within their local community, particularly those living in communities where healthcare services are weak. The project is based on cooperation among the health funds, the third sector, local authorities and students from local institutions of higher education. RVF will be responsible for coordinating the project, mapping available services, collaborating with existing local and national organizations, and will be responsible for student training, guidance and support.
The project will be implemented in five cities: Afula, Haifa, Ariel, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and Be’er Sheva, cities with institutions of higher education. After training, approximately 50 medical and allied health-professional students, who will receive stipends, will visit 1,000 patient homes, assess patient needs and then connect them to existing local services.
Students of the healthcare professions (medicine; nursing; social work; occupational therapy; physiotherapy) will receive initial referral from community HMOs and visit with homebound patients. They will talk with each patient in order to map the unique needs, contact relevant service providers (Pub. Health, NPOs, volunteer organizations) and arrange for the medical and social needs to be met. Upon completion of one care scheme, the students will receive a new referral, a new unique challenge.