What is the Rehabilitation Basket, Who is Eligible, and How to Apply

Individuals coping with a mental health disability deserve an opportunity to receive help in coping with their disability, achieve functional independence, integrate into the community, and improve their quality of life. A rehabilitation basket, in conjunction with mental health therapy, can help achieve goals. The services in the rehabilitation basket are designed to help individuals with mental health disabilities cope with the challenges, move forward, and optimally reintegrate into the community. The basket includes options for support, supervision and rehabilitation in most areas of life: housing, employment, society, leisure, supervision and counselling services for families, National Service, volunteering in the IDF, therapy coordination services, assistance to purchase initial equipment, education, dental care, etc.

Family members of individuals coping with mental health disabilities can also take advantage of the support services provided in the rehabilitation basket, for example, by contacting a family counselling center or receiving assistance to exercise their rights. Everyone needs different services, depending on their specific needs. Hence, the basket includes a wide array of services so that you can get exactly what is suitable for you.

The rehabilitation basket application process

People can submit the application for the Rehabilitation Basket online (Hebrew), but it may be complicated. It is therefore recommended that the Insured contact the mental health clinic in their HMO and request a referral to the Rehabilitation Basket Committee. A social worker or an association may be used to help you fill out the forms and collect the recommendations, reports, and summaries.

About a month after submitting the forms, you will be invited to a regional rehabilitation committee. If you used a professional to send the forms, the professional will inform you about the date on which the rehabilitation committee will convene. If you applied on your own, you will receive an invitation to the committee by phone or e-mail.

What to expect from the Rehabilitation Basket Board

Three professionals comprise the Rehabilitation Basket Board, which consists of:

• Board Chairperson: rehabilitation basket district representative.
• Psychiatrist.
• Psychologist.
• Social worker.
• Occupational therapist.
• Nursing staff.

You may find the board meeting stressful, which is totally normal and reasonable. The board's aim is to get to know you, your needs, ambitions, and desires, which may relieve you a little. The focal point of the board's approach is you, the people living with mental health disabilities. The board's goal is to identify strategies that will enable you to enhance your quality of life and facilitate your assimilation into society.

How long is the rehabilitation basket eligibility valid?

Eligibility for the rehabilitation basket is generally valid for one year. At the end of each year, the rehabilitation plan and the need to make changes to the basket are reviewed. This is an opportunity to examine the rehabilitation plan with the supervising rehabilitation agency that directly contacts the rehabilitation basket, thereby eliminating the need to repeat the process for exercising eligibility.

Selecting suppliers and service providers

Once the rehabilitation plan has been approved, the programs and services that are suitable for you must be selected. You can use the care coordinators who will accompany you in the process of searching and choosing the rehabilitation services that are suitable for the program approved for you. The care coordinators will mediate between the various parties involved in the rehabilitation process.

• Check which providers or companies provide available services in the areas approved for you.
• You should choose suppliers after reading about them on the Internet: google the name of the supplier or company, read what people have written about them, visit their website, etc.
• Schedule an introductory meeting with the supplier or company. This meeting involves no obligation on your part to choose this provider and is free of charge. The meeting will reveal which service or services the provider offers, whether these services are provided near your area of residence or whether you will have to travel to receive them, and whether the service interests you or is right for you.

Replacing the rehabilitation basket

The basket was received from the Ministry of Health. The services have a validity that is specifically determined by the Board, and when the validity expires, you need to renew the approval for your approved services. This is an opportunity to review the rehabilitation plan and check if it is right for you, if the goals you wanted to achieve were achieved, if you are lacking something you want to achieve, or maybe your goals have changed. You should have a dialogue about all of these with the rehabilitation professional who is accompanying you, who will also directly refer you to a rehabilitation basket to replace, expand, or change the services.