Study on Care of Holocaust Survivors Presented at International Conference
As the fastest growing hospital in Israel’s capital, Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center treats one of the more diverse collections of patient populations on earth. Peoples of varying ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds regularly count on Shaare Zedek for top-level medical care, a reality which presents unique challenges to the hospital staff.
Acting on the front lines in responding to these challenges is the Kestenbaum Department of Social Work, whose staff work to remove any social or cultural barriers for patients and make their experience as stress-free as possible. With their vast experience with this unique field, four members of the Department were invited recently to appear at the International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health in Dublin, Ireland.
Among the sessions presented by Shaare Zedek social workers was one entitled “Holocaust Survivors in the Department of Emergency Medicine: A Challenge.” The session was given by Nathalie Aron, Director of social work for the Weinstock Department of Emergency Medicine on the Fanya Gottsefeld Heller Floor.
While there is no hard data on how many Holocaust survivors come to the hospital as patients, given the high number of survivors who live in the Jerusalem area and the fact that they are particularly prone to health problems, it is a considerable number. While treating their specific medical needs is typically similar to any geriatric patient, the challenges come with addressing their emotional needs, says Ms. Aron.
According to her research, hospitals often act as triggers for survivors that send their minds straight back to their wartime horrific memories. She says that doctors can remind those who lived in the concentration camps of the evil Nazi physicians and hospital robes conjure up images of the pajamas the inmates were forced to wear. Among numerous other terrifying memories.
Ms. Aron found that survivors approach their hospitalizations with one of two very different outlooks. “Some say that we’ve been through so much, we can cope with anything while others respond that they’ve had so much pain in their lives, they no longer have the will to fight,” she says. She and fellow social workers have made special efforts to help identify which patients are in fact survivors. Once they know as such, they can ensure they are being provided with that additional measure of emotional sensitivity. However, Ms, Aron knows that this is an understanding shared by all of the hospital staff.
This reality was recently proven through an incredible story that took place at Shaare Zedek. An elderly woman who was being treated in the hospital was in very poor condition and it became clear that she was in the last throes of life. Most unfortunately, the woman was all alone, with no close family or friends to turn to in those final moments. Her plight became known to one Shaare Zedek employee, a long time staff member in the kitchen who came to her bedside to help her say the Shema prayer one last time, as is the custom before death.
Kneeling behind her bed, the employee noticed the woman was a Holocaust survivor with a number painfully tattooed across her forearm. The employee stared at the arm for one long moment and nearly shouted out in shock. For there in front of his eyes was a woman bearing the number only one digit off from his very own mother.
For more information please call jeremy@szmc.co.il
