Devorah Shaked
Director Of Social Work Departmen
dshaked@alyn.org
02- 6494330
Devorah Shaked is a social worker with 30 years of experience in welfare and health systems. She holds a BSW in Social Work from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a master’s degree in Health Systems Administration and Public Health (MHA) from Bar Ilan University.
Devorah has been the Head of Social Work Services at ALYN Hospital since 2018, leading her staff of 10 social workers who provide guidance to the families of the patients in all of the departments – outpatient clinics, inpatient hospitalization, day hospitalization, and ALYN’s rehabilitation nursery and school. In addition, Devorah participates in professional forums in the fields of health systems and social services.
ALYN's social workers support, guide and assist patients and their families throughout all the departments at ALYN. The social workers focus on the children’s families and their background, taking into account the child as part of their family unit and the community to which they belong.
The social workers guide the children and their families from the initial meeting prior to admission, throughout the rehabilitation process. The social workers also assist in planning and implementing the child's return to their home and community.
The social workers play a major role in creating each child's personalized rehabilitation program, taking into account:
- The needs, emotional resources and coping skills of the child and their family.
- The rehabilitation program must be appropriate to the emotional and physical circumstances of the child and their family.
- The children’s families are encouraged to participate in the planning and implementation of their child's rehabilitation program. The social workers are regularly in touch with the authorities and organizations within the community, who can provide relevant services to the children and their families.
The social worker's responsibilities include:
- Helping the family prepare for a period of hospitalization in the Rehabilitation Department, or helping the family prepare for their child's admittance to the Shachar Day Care Facility
- Assessing and evaluating the emotional resources and coping skills of the family
- Crisis intervention
- Assessing the child's emotional development, relative to their physical disability, and guiding, supporting and assisting the family in providing them with coping mechanisms
- Liaising and coordinating between ALYN’s multidisciplinary staff and the family.
- Guidance, coordination and assistance in advising the families about the rights of their child and of the family within the health services, educational system and social services
- Coordinating the patient's discharge plan from the hospital, and the referrals from the ALYN staff relative to the continuation of their rehabilitation within their home community
- Children at risk: It is the responsibility of the social workers to identify children at risk due to neglect or abuse. They will then consult and work with the community based social services and health services.
- Volunteers: The social workers are responsible for ALYN volunteers, in coordination with the Human Resources Department.