Health4all! Capacity building in the health care system providing for children with special needs

A joint Project of the Hungarian Hidden Treasures Down Syndrome Association and the Ukrainian Malteser Charity Organization in Beregovo Region implements complex development in the field of early intervention. Besides supporting children aged 0-6 years with congenital or acquired disabilities and their families, the Project aims at advancing professionals' knowledge and strengthening interdisciplinary cooperation.
Critical elements of the Project and their expected main results are the following:
Advancing knowledge includes on the one hand Down Association transferring know-how to 6 professionals of the Ukrainian partner. This results in spreading good practices across the border and establishing a common service protocol, which allows for a higher quality of service. On the other hand, 5 vocational trainings of 43 professionals ensures the widening of the methodological repertoire of the service, thus improving the quality and effectiveness of service.
Rehabilitating members of the target group requires establishing new counselling points, where 290 children will be screened and 369 children with disabilities receive therapy. Besides, inclusive interventional areas will be established. These activities improve the accessibility, quality and effectiveness of services, and more children will be involved in service in geographical areas where health care measures lag far behind those of the country.
In the framework of social care development on the one hand parents will take part in awareness raising and mentally equipping programmes: the 7 programmes for about 460 parents. On the other hand, the 6 programmes for the 250 professionals in partner fields serves to establish and strengthen interdisciplinary cooperation. All these augment the scene of early intervention, improve integration and decrease the number of families in existential crisis.
The Project leads to higher quality health care for 1107 persons.