Well-Baby Clinics

Well-Baby Clinics
Challenge
Enabling WBCs to provide parents with support, knowledge and tools that measurably improve their children’s development and to promote parental well-being
Vision
Strengthening support systems for parents that ensure optimal development for their children
Goal
Upgrading professional development of nurses in WBC stations

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 paediatricians, 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 WB (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: language development, 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.   

 

ISSA
01/2020
en

Best Practices for Working with Parents

Goshen
03/2020
en