HU Credits: 3

Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)

Responsible Department: Social Work

Semester: 2nd Semester

Teaching Languages: English

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Rebecca Feinstein

Coordinator Email: Rebecca.Feinstein@mail.huji.ac.il

Coordinator Office Hours: By appointment

Teaching Staff:
Rebecca Feinstein

Course/Module description:
The study of public health in Israel and worldwide is both fascinating and exciting, especially because it is constantly in transformation and offers a window into larger social, political, and economic changes in Israel. This course is an introduction to the public health system of Israel and an examination of central health issues confronting Israeli society today. We will first cover the evolution and advancement of public and general health services from the time before Israel became a state until the present. More specifically, we will explore how the Israeli public health care system developed in parallel with nation-building efforts, beginning in pre-1948 Palestine and after statehood was established; the health impacts of the different waves of immigration to Israel; the implementation of the Universal Health Insurance Act of 1994; and the influence of neoliberalism on current health and health care services. In addition to viewing health care through history and path dependency, the course will a present a conceptual and topical overview of the sociology of health, illness, and health care in Israel while using a social determinants of health perspective.

The course is divided into week-long units that address particular social determinants of health in Israel (i.e. ethnicity, citizenship, religion, income inequality, education, geography, and age) and the way they influence certain issues (i.e. war, terrorism, mental health, alternative medicine, disability, the politicization and medicalization of family planning, medical ethics, and human rights). Each determinant and issue will be investigated through the following four dimensions: 1) Providers and patients—the impact of culture, roles, and relationships; 2) social factors in health, illness, and health care (including correlates of health, health disparities, and factors impacting access to care); 3) the organization of health care delivery systems, and associated patient outcomes; and 4) social meanings and experiences of illness.

Course/Module aims:
• To investigate how the history of health care in Israel reflects Israel's social history since the early 20th century to the present, with an emphasis on the how different social movements have influenced the development of health care systems.
• To define the social determinants of health and how they influence health and health care in Israel.
• To examine central Israeli public health issues through a social determinants of health perspective and explore their specific implications on social inequality.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate knowledge about of Israel's health care system and its historical development alongside the state's larger social, political, and economic development.
• Define the social determinants of health and how they contribute to health disparities in Israel.
• Demonstrate knowledge about the central public health issues in Israeli society and how they can be understood through the social determinants of health perspective.
• Explore a public health issue of your interest and conduct preliminary research on the topic through literature review, in-person interviews, and participant observations.

Attendance requirements(%):
10

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: 1. Class attendance and participation (10% of final grade). Our meetings will include both lecture, discussion, and field trips. Active participation in class sessions is central to learning in this course. You are expected to contribute in positive ways (that is, adding to the discussion in a relevant, concise, and reflective manner), which also requires that you be present in class. Please inform me in advance by email if you will not be attending class

Course/Module Content:
Course outline and readings

Week 1, Sessions 1-2: Course overview and an introduction to public health in Israel and the social determinants of health perspective.

Week 2: The history and politics of health care in Israel.

Session 3: British Mandate in pre-1948 Palestine: Early public health problems and the early development of a health care system.

Session 4: Development of the Israeli Health care system 1948-present, the 1995 National Health Law, implications of public vs. private health care

Week 3: Health trends and disparities in Israel. How does Israeli health compare to world health?
Sessions 5-6: Major public health issues, disparities Israeli health facts and statistics, social causes and risk factors.

Week 4: Circles of Exclusion: Who is included and who is not?

Sessions 7-8: How Israeli society includes and excludes people from the health care system and the health care disparities created by exclusion – foreign workers, refugees, and non-citizens

Week 5, Sessions 9-10: Culture, Ethnicity, and Religion

Week 6: Trauma and recovery.

Session 11: Casualties of military services, war, and terrorism

Session 12: Emergency preparedness and medical relief in disaster situations

Week 7: Film and online forum discussion – Voices of El Sayed

Session 13: Film - Voices of El-Sayed (2009)

Week 8: Geography and Health

Session 14: The Center vs. the Periphery

Session 15: Field Trip to Bedouin Health Clinic in Rahat, 12:30pm

Week 9, Sessions 16-17: Mental health care

Week 10: Alternative medicine in Israel, fertility, and the and medicalization of family planning

Session 18: Alternative Medicine

Session 19: Fertility and the politicization of family planning

Week 11: Aging, Elder care, and the Filipina.

Session 20: Guest Lecture by Dr. Keren Mazuz, medical anthropologist, Hadassah Academic College

Week 12, Sessions 21-22: Medical Ethics, Human Rights, and Course Conclusion

Required Reading:
Course outline and readings

Week 1: Course overview and an introduction to public health in Israel and the social determinants of health perspective.

Sessions 1-2:

Rosen, Bruce. & Samuel, B. (2009). Israel: Health system review, Health Systems in Transition, 11, 2. Executive Summary, Chapter 1, Chapter 2 (25 pages) Google

Bowers, L. (2014). Hot issues in Israel’s healthcare system. Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, Policy Brief 03.03.14. (10 pages) Google

Wilkinson, R. and Marmot, M. (Eds.) (2003). Social Determinants of Health: The Solid Facts (2nd Ed.). World Health Organization: Denmark. (22 pages)
http://www.euro.who.int/en/publications/abstracts/social-determinants-of-health.-the-solid-facts

Braverman, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: Coming of age. Annual Review of Public Health, 32(1), 381–398. (22 pages) E-Journal


Week 2: The history and politics of health care in Israel.

Session 3: British Mandate in pre-1948 Palestine: Early public health problems and the early development of a health care system.

Filc, D. (2009). Circles of exclusion: The politics of health care in Israel. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Chapter 1, pp. 16-42 (26 pages) Main Library RA 395 I75 F55 2009

Shuval, J. T. (2000). Social dimensions of health: The Israeli experience. Westport, CT: Praeger. Chapter 2, pp. 9-32 (23 pages) Main Library RA 418.3 I75 S58

Session 4: Development of the Israeli Health care system 1948-present, the 1995 National Health Law, implications of public vs. private health care

Filc, D. (2009). Circles of exclusion: The politics of health care in Israel. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Chapter 2, pp. 43-74 (31 pages) Main Library RA 395 I75 F55 2009

Chernichovsky, D. (2009). Not “socialized medicine” — An Israeli view of health care reform, NEJM 361(e46), 1-3 (3 pages) E-Journal

Week 3: Health trends and disparities in Israel. How does Israeli health compare to world health?
Sessions 5-6: Major public health issues, disparities Israeli health facts and statistics, social causes and risk factors.

Shuval, J. T. (2000). Social dimensions of health: The Israeli experience. Westport, CT: Praeger. Chapter 6, pp. 77-96 (19 pages) Main library RA 418.3 I75 S58

Chernichovsky, D. & Regev, E. (2013). Trends in Israel's healthcare system. Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, Policy Paper No. 2013.14. (29 pages) Google

Seidman, G. I. (2010). Is a flat-line a good thing? On the privatization of Israel's healthcare system. American Journal of Law & Medicine, 36(2/3), 452-481. (29 pages) E-Journal

Merom, D., Sinnreich, R., Aboudi, V., Kark, J. D., & Nassar, H. (2012). Lifestyle physical activity among urban Palestinians and Israelis: A cross-sectional comparison in the Palestinian Israeli Jerusalem risk factor study. BMC Public Health, 12, 90-103. (13 pages) E-Journal


Week 4: Circles of Exclusion: Who is included and who is not?

Sessions 7-8: How Israeli society includes and excludes people from the health care system and the health care disparities created by exclusion – foreign workers, refugees, and non-citizens

Filc, D. (2010). Circles of exclusion: Obstacles in access to health care services in Israel. International Journal of Health Services: Planning, Administration, Evaluation, 40(4), 699–717. (18 pages) E-Journal

Giacaman, R., Khatib, R., Shabaneh, L., Ramlawi, A., Sabri, B., Sabatinelli, G., & ... Laurance, T. (2009). Health status and health services in the occupied Palestinian territory. Lancet, 373(9666), 837-849. (22 pages) E-Journal

Ben-Dor, A. & Adut, R. (2003). Israel - A Safe Haven? Problems in the Treatment Offered by the State of Israel to Refugees and Asylum Seekers.
http://www.tau.ac.il/law/clinics/english/Safe%20heaven.pdf (skim)

Rosenthal, A. (2007). Battling for survival, battling for moral clarity: “Illegality” and illness in the everyday struggles of undocumented HIV+ women migrant workers in Tel Aviv. International Migration, 45(3) 134-156. (24 pages) E-Journal


Week 5: Culture, Ethnicity, and Religion

Sessions 9-10 Readings

Shuval, J. T. (2000). Social dimensions of health: The Israeli experience. Westport, CT: Praeger. Chapter 8, pp. 123-136 (13 pages) Main library RA 418.3 I75 S58

Davidovitch, N. & Shvarts, S. (2004). Health and hegemony: Preventive medicine, immigrants and the Israeli melting pot. Israel Studies, 9(2), 150-179. (30 pages) E-Journal

Haj-Yahia, M. M. (1995). Toward culturally sensitive intervention with Arab families in Israel. Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, 17(4), 429-447. (18 pages) E-Journal

Levin, J. (2013). Religious behavior, health, and well-being among Israeli Jews: Findings from the European Social Survey. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 5(4), 272-282. (10 pages) E-Journal


Week 6: Trauma and recovery.

Session 11: Casualties of military services, war, and terrorism

Keren Friedman-Peleg and Yoram Bilu (2011). From PTSD to “national trauma”: The case of the Israel Trauma Center for Victims of Terror and War. Transcultural Psychiatry, 48, 416-436. (20 pages)
http://www.natal.org.il/english/

Gelkopf, M. M., Solomon, Z. Z., Berger, R. R., & Bleich, A. A. (2008). The mental health impact of terrorism in Israel: A repeat cross-sectional study of Arabs and Jews. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 117(5), 369-380. (11 pages) E-Journal

Zemishlany, Z. (2012). Resilience and vulnerability in coping with stress
and terrorism. IMAJ, 14, 307–309. (3 pages) E-Journal



Session 12: Emergency preparedness and medical relief in disaster situations

Admi, H., Eilon, Y., Hyams, G., & Utitz, L. (2011). Management of mass casualty events: The Israeli experience. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 43(2), 211-219. (10 pages) E-Journal

Hobfoll, S., Watson, P., Bell, C., Bryant, R., Brymer, M., Friedman, M., & ... Ursano, R. (2007). Five essential elements of immediate and mid-term mass trauma intervention: Empirical evidence. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 70(4), 283-315. (32 pages) E-Journal


Week 7: Film and online forum discussion – Voices of El Sayed

Session 13: Film

Voices of El-Sayed (2009) / שבלול במדבר
http://www.go2films.com/Health-Disabilities/Voices-from-El-Sayed


Week 8: Geography and Health

Session 14: The Center vs. the Periphery

Lubetzky, H., Friger, M., Warshawsky-Livne, L., & Shvarts, S. (2011). Distance and socioeconomic status as a health service predictor on the periphery in the southern region of Israel. Health Policy, 100(2/3), 310-316. (6 pages) E-Journal

Goldberger, N., & Haklai, Z. (2012). Mortality rates in Israel from causes amenable to health care, regional and international comparison. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 1(41), 1-8. (8 pages) E-Journal

Attar-Schwartz, S., Ben-Arieh, A., & Khoury-Kassabri, M. (2011). The geography of children’s welfare in Israel: The role of nationality, religion, socio-economic factors and social worker availability, British Journal of Social Work, 41, 1122–1139. (17 pages) E-Journal


Session 15: Field Trip to Bedouin Health Clinic in Rahat, 12:30pm

Abu-Saad, I. (2008). Introduction: State rule and indigenous resistance among Al Naqab Bedouin Arabs. HAGAR: Studies in Culture, Polity & Identities, 8(2), 3-24. (21 pages) E-Journal

Al-Krenawi, A., & Graham, J. R. (2006). A comparative study of family functioning, health, and mental health awareness and utilization among female Bedouin-Arabs from recognized and unrecognized villages in the Negev. Health Care for Women International, 27(2), 182-196. (14 pages) E-Journal


Week 9: Mental health care

Sessions 16-17 Readings

Laufer, N., Zilber, N., Jecsmien, P., Maoz, B., Grupper, D., Hermesh, H., & ... Munitz, H. (2013). Mental disorders in primary care in Israel: prevalence and risk factors. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 48(10), 1539-1554. (15 pages) E-Journal

Scrimin, S., Moscardino, U., & Natour, M. (2014). Socio-ecological correlates of mental health among ethnic minorities in areas of political conflict: A study of Druze adolescents in Israel. Transcultural Psychiatry, 51(2), 209-227. (18 pages) E-Journal

Delbar, V., Tzadok, L., Mergi, O., Erel, T. O., Haim, L., & Romem, P. (2010). Transcultural mental health care issues of Ethiopian immigration to Israel. Advances in Mental Health, 9(3), 277-287. (10 pages). E-Journal

Lurie, I. (2009). Psychiatric care in restricted conditions for work migrants, refugees and asylum seekers: Experience of the Open Clinic for work migrants and refugees, Israel 2006. Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 46(3), 172-181. (9 pages) E-Journal


Week 10: Alternative medicine in Israel, fertility, and the and medicalization of family planning

Session 18: Alternative Medicine

Shuval, J. & Averbuch, E. (2012). Alternative and bio-medicine in Israel:
Boundaries and bridges. Brighton, MA; Academic Studies Press. Chapters 2 (pp. 29-37), 3 (pp. 38-48), 4 (pp. 49-72), and 12 (pp. 199-218) (62 pages) E-book 001868348, Main library R 733 S58 2012

Salamon, H. (2011). The floor falling away: Dislocated space and body in the humour of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. Folklore, 122(1), 16-34. (18 pages) E-Journal

Session 19: Fertility and the politicization of family planning

Fargues, P. (2000). Protracted National Conflict and Fertility Change: Palestinians and Israelis in the Twentieth Century. Population and Development Review, 26(3), 441-482. (skim) E-Journal

Birenbaum-Carmeli, D. (2004). ‘Cheaper than a newcomer’: On the social production of IVF policy in Israel. Sociology of Health & Illness, 26(7), 897-924. (27 pages) E-Journal

Week 11: Aging, Elder care, and the Filipina.

Session 20: Guest Lecture by Dr. Keren Mazuz, medical anthropologist, Hadassah Academic College

Mazuz, K. (2013). The state of the Jewish family: Eldercare as a practice of corporeal symbiosis by Filipina migrant workers (pp 97-111), In Ethnographic Encounters in Israel: Poetics and Ethics of Fieldwork (Ed. F. Markowitz). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. (14 pages) Main library GN 635 I78 E85 2013

Schmid, H. (2005). The Israeli Long-Term Care Insurance Law: Selected issues in providing home care services to the frail elderly. Health & Social Care in the Community, 13(3), 191-200. (9 pages) E-Journal


Week 12: Medical Ethics, Human Rights, and Course Conclusion

Sessions 21-22

ICRC (1996). The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
https://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/other/icrc_002_0513.pdf

The Sphere Project (2011)
http://www.ifrc.org/PageFiles/95530/The-Sphere-Project-Handbook-20111.pdf

3 Articles of your choice from Physicians for Human Rights – Israel. http://www.phr.org.il/

Additional Reading Material:
None

Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 40 %
Presentation 0 %
Participation in Tutorials 0 %
Project work 0 %
Assignments 10 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 40 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 10 %

Additional information:
• Attendance and Participation (10% of final grade.
• Assignment #1: Take-home, mid-term exam due April 1, 2015 at midnight (40% of final grade). The mid-term exam will consist of both short answer and essay questions about material covered in the reading and lectures during the first half of the semester.

• Assignment #2: Online discussion forum for the film Voices of El-Sayed during the week of April 19-26, 2015 (10% of final grade). See attached instructions on page 11 of the syllabus.

• Assignment #3: Final paper about a public health issue in Israel of your choice (40% of final grade). Identify a current public health problem or health disparity in Israel. Describe the health problem and its impact on the health of the local people and the larger state. Address the problem through a “social determinants of health” perspective and describe the "upstream" health determinants that may contribute to this "downstream" problem. Describe current interventions that are being used to improve the health problem or disparity. Please use a variety of sources for your paper, including the public health literature, in-person interviews, and participant observations (6-8 pages).