Welfare Ministry launches program to teach basic medicine to mentally handicapped

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Man lying in a hospital bed at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem [illustrative]. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Man lying in a hospital bed at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem [illustrative].
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
The Welfare and Social Services Ministry announced on Monday an enrichment program to teach people with intellectual disabilities about basic medicine.
Titled “For the knowledge,” the course was developed by the ministry’s division for people with intellectual disabilities, in collaboration with the Yachdav (Together) charity, the Beersheba Municipality and the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev department of social involvement.
The course, which will start Tuesday at BGU, will provide basic knowledge about the human body and common illnesses to adults aged 18-30 who are cared for by the various departments in the ministry and who have an intellectual disability. The course participants had to apply to the program and were chosen by a special committee.
The program offers a yearlong course taught by medical students who were trained to teach the subject to people with disabilities. Among the topics to be discussed are the respiratory system and smoking, common illnesses, psychology and addiction.
The course will include social activities and tours for the course participants.
The ministry announcement of the new program came one day after Akim – The National Organization for Habilitation of Children and Adults with Intellectual Disabilities released its annual index of society’s attitude toward the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.
One of the glaring statistics revealed in the report found that nearly a fourth of Israelis, some 24 percent, believe that intellectually disabled people should not be allowed to make their own decisions about medical treatment.