About
The Well-Baby Clinic (WBC) initiative is a joint project with the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) and the Ministry of Health. It is led by Goshen, a non-profit founded by leading paediatricans, that trains medical professionals in child development, and is assisted by the Lotem Strategies Group. The goal of the initiative is to support, upgrade and leverage the existing infrastructure of WBC (Tipat Halav) clinics across the country – the only system that regularly engages with all children up to age two and their parents – as a source of support for parents and caregivers.
Supporting parents means viewing their well-being as a precondition for the well-being of their children and working cooperatively towards achieving optimal development for the child. The initiative focuses on enhancing WBC nurses’ ability to engage positively with parents and families and increasing their practical knowledge of key developmental issues: literacy and language, interactive play and self-regulation.
The initiative is being built together with a professional, dedicated group of WBC station managers (‘Leading Nurses’) representing all operators of WBCs (the Ministry of Health, the four HMOs and the Jerusalem and Tel Aviv municipalities). This group has developed innovative methods and practical tools for nurses to improve their ability to support parents. Professional development training is provided to all members of the WBC workforce – nurses, station managers, supervisors and doctors. Supervisors play an active role in delivering training to nurses.
The initiative is part of a strategy of the Ministry of Health to invest in Early Childhood.
Resources
Yad Hanadiv's own publications and media, materials produced by our grantees, and other items we have found useful in our work