QADER and the Ministry of Health Launch Training Sessions on Diagnosing and Assessing Mental Abilities in Children

The Palestinian Ministry of Health and QADER for Community Development have launched the first phase of training packages aimed at building and developing the capabilities of health personnel and community organizations in diagnosing and assessing the mental abilities of children.

The capacity-building process for professional teams will include a series of training stages on a variety of screening tools and diagnostic tools recommended in the Quality Standards Guide. Subsequent training packages will focus on assessment tools and training on diagnostic mechanisms and tools. Additionally, a supervisory program will follow each training phase.

This training initiative is part of the cooperation between QADER and the Ministry of Health, aimed at improving the quality of services for diagnosing and assessing mental abilities in children, preparing quality standards for diagnostic and assessment services, and enhancing the skills of medical staff in the Ministry of Health to supervise the quality of diagnostic services for children's mental abilities provided by private institutions and centers.

The first phase of the training lasted for two days for each training group, divided across the central, southern, and northern West Bank regions. The training was led by clinical psychologist Yiad Ghandari Hakim, who focused on the fundamentals of psychological diagnosis for children with intellectual disabilities. The training package covered a range of topics and areas, including the history of psychological diagnosis, diagnosing mental abilities, ethical considerations in diagnostic work, the legal framework, basic definitions of mental abilities, classifications of intellectual disabilities, differential diagnosis, and involving the child and family in the diagnostic process.