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OMNI-Net Promotes Parental Clubs Creation
Diana Akhmedzhanova
Khmelnytsky OMNI-Center
Information Specialist
Birth defects attract attention of the society in the whole world. After all they are the main causes of infant mortality, child morbidity and disabilities. Birth defects impose a heavy burden on affected persons, their family and society taking into account their life quality, isolation from the community and needs in services.
Results of the survey, conducted in 2006 by a group of volunteering students of Khmelnytsky National University among birth defects children parents, showed that among the most urgent problems for families in addition to needs in treatment and rehabilitation there are lack of active parental organizations and possibilities to communicate with other families, lack of contemporary reliable information regarding habilitation, treatment an prevention of birth defects (See pic. 1.).
Pic. 1. Results of the survey among birth defects children parents
Understanding the fact, that one can get better results in rendering complex and effective help to children with birth defects just having united efforts of specialists and parents, became the main encouraging moment in opening a parental club "Veselka" in the Khmelnytsky Informational Resource OMNI-Center. The name of the club (in Ukrainian "veselka" means rainbow) is not casual,- life should be filled with all rainbow colors for each child just as a rainbow is impossible without a ray from each of us.
"Veselka" unites representatives of the oblast PKU parental organization, All-Ukrainian organization "Down Syndrome", Khmelnytsky Fund for Special Needs Children and many others. The parental club has a psychologist and a social worker; as well they engage to work a group of students-volunteers who in particular conducted the survey of the biggest problems of birth defects children parents. A family is the main target of this unique union of specialists (medical specialists, psychologists, social workers and information officers) with members of the families having birth defects children.
With facilitation of the OMNI-Center information specialists parents get information regarding new methods of treatment, care, rehabilitation of children with special needs; they establish contacts with parental support groups in Ukraine and abroad, use the possibility of distant consultations using internet technologies.
The parental club activities help to make such necessary transformations in society as changing public opinion (attitude, stereotypes), preparing and distributing informational materials for mass media, informing the community about birth defects children needs, sharing working experience, initiating passing laws and regulations regarding improvement of social and medical services, implementing contemporary prevention strategies, establishing partner relations on local, regional and international levels.
The most valuable achievement of the parental club we consider to be the well-coordinated work of the team specialists (medical geneticists, social worker, psychologist, information specialist) and parents. That enabled creation of a lekotek and holding the scientific-practical experience exchange conference "Aspects of Early Intervention Regarding Children with Special Needs" (took place on March 20, 2007 in Khmelnytsky) with participation of early intervention specialists from Khmelnytsky, Kharkiv, Rivne and Volyn oblasts.
Date of report: April 2, 2007
