Shirli Werner

Hebrew University of Jerusalem | HUJI · Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare

This study explored the coping experiences of mothers of children with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 mothers. The data were thematically analyzed to gain in-depth understanding of their coping experiences. The findings indicated that COVID-related restrictions disrupt...

Purpose: Supported decision-making (SDM) is an emerging and innovative alternative to substitute decision-making practices. While relationships are pivotal in establishing proper and effective SDM, scant research has examined these relationships in-depth. This study explores how decision-making supporters perceive relationships embedded in SDM for...

Background People with intellectual disabilities have the right to live in the community. As social workers have an important role in decisions regarding residential settings, this study examined their recommendations regarding residential living arrangements of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Method Using a factorial survey approach 1...

Participation of children and youth (hereinafter, children) with disabilities is a core value of all-inclusive societies, but significant barriers, including stigmatic beliefs and perceptions of disability, limit its attainment. Parental perceptions of their children’s participation and its correlates play a key role in overcoming barriers and prom...

Background: Parents' promotion of autonomous decision-making (PADM) is essential for adolescents with disabilities and constitutes the basis for maturation of self-determination (SD). SD develops based on adolescents' capacities and the opportunities offered to them at home and at school, to make personal decisions regarding their life. Aim: Exa...

Background: While military settings may increase psychological distress, soldiers frequently avoid seeking professional help. This study aimed to examine barriers and facilitators associated with intentions to seek help and actually seeking help from a mental health officer (MHO) and how these differ among soldiers who had sought help in the past...

The COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken to contain it have had a disproportionate impact on families with young children, especially with disabilities. This study examined factors associated with burden and growth among parents of young children in Israel, while comparing parents of children with and without disabilities. We hypothesized that...

This commentary is on the original article by Manikandan et al. on pages 1270–1280 of this issue.

Background Following the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD), various countries have recently amended their legal capacity laws with the aim of restricting the use of guardianship and increasing the use of other, less restrictive practices, mainly supported decision making. As social workers have a key role in carrying out...

Background COVID-19 has had a disproportionate and unprecedented impact on children with disabilities, their parents and families. This impact has been particularly evident during periods of lockdowns and severe restrictions. Objective This study employed the social model of disability to illuminate negative and positive experiences of Israeli par...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257657.].

We examined social workers' recommendations regarding the possible appointment of a guardian, a supported decision maker (SDM), or neither for persons with disabilities. Social workers (N = 328) were presented with four vignettes that contained factors potentially relevant to guardianship and SDM judgments. They expressed higher support of SDM and...

Background While research has focused on understanding teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of children with special educational needs into general education classrooms, there are lacunae that have yet to be addressed. This study examined the association between perceived self-efficacy and attitudes towards inclusion among elementary school te...

Traditionally, studies on parenting children with disabilities have focused mostly on experiences of stress. More recently, studies have turned to examining parental coping from the perspective of strength, focusing on the ability to achieve growth and empowerment. Most studies, however, have not examined parental activism as a coping mechanism. Ba...

Throughout the years, disabled people, especially those with intellectual and mental disabilities, have frequently been appointed authorised guardians. Having been criticised for restricting individual freedom and autonomy and in line with the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a 2016 reform in Israel's Legal Capacity an...

Purpose This article presents a conceptual synthesis of the international literature on inclusive education while expanding upon, and incorporating, the articles in this special issue. The authors present their 3P model (philosophy, policy and praxis) and relate each paper in this special issue to different aspects of their model. Design/methodolo...

Following a rise in the life expectancy of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, many adults with CF form couple relationships. Yet, dyadic coping has not been previously examined in people with CF. This study examined how adults with CF and their partners cope as a couple with the illness, and what meanings each partner and the couple as a unit attribute...

This chapter examines the way that the choices of Israeli adults with intellectual disabilities are shaped by different disability laws and other state policies in two domains: legal capacity and housing services. In Israel, legal capacity issues are regulated by the 1962 Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law, which has recently been amended to provi...

There is a dearth of studies that have examined the attitudes of society toward people with intellectual disabilities (IDs) on a global scale. This study set out to gauge the extent to which ID continues to be stigmatized and to which initiatives are in place to increase their inclusion and tackle stigma around the globe. Data were collected using...

This study examined disclosure strategies in cystic fibrosis (CF) and their psychosocial implications for adults. Disclosure styles were examined based on Corrigan and Lundin's (2001) model. In‐depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 42 individuals diagnosed with CF from two CF clinics in Israel. Disclosure of CF is complex and involves mu...

This study examined the roles of stigma and of enabling factors in help-seeking by parental caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities and dual diagnosis. Questionnaires were completed by 195 family caregivers. Lower family stigma was related to higher personal enabling factors (e.g. knowledge about services and previous experience in...

Introduction: Studies regarding the use of support services for persons with a dual diagnosis of intellectual disability and psychopathology are scarce; even fewer have focused on children and young adults. The aim of the present study, conducted in Israel, was to compare the use of support services and their perceived effectiveness by families of...

Background The relationship between ethnicity, service use and perceptions of service effectiveness is inconclusive. This study examined differences in service use and perceptions of service effectiveness between Israeli Jewish (Jewish) and Israeli Arab (Arab) parental caregivers of individuals with intellectual disabilities and dual diagnosis of p...

Individuals with disabilities are entitled to equal access to information and communication technologies (ICT), including the Internet. The study to which this commentary refers has shown that over time (between 2003 and 2015), Internet access by persons with disabilities has increased, but a gap still exists between people with and without disabil...

Purpose: Guardianship of people with disabilities has been under growing scrutiny, leading some welfare states to offer supported decision-making as a legal alternative. This study examined the attitudes of Israeli social work students toward guardianship and supported decision-making and the relationship between these attitudes and the perceived i...

Background Research on supported employment for individuals with intellectual disabilities has focused mainly on its effect on employees. Scant research has assessed the influence on employers and on the work setting. This study focused on a unique program to foster the employment of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the Israeli militar...

Purpose: Identity development among individuals with disabilities may depend on their being included in central institutions in society. The centrality of the military in Israeli society makes it a highly important setting for inclusion and identity development. We examined the self-identity of young adults with intellectual disabilities who serve...

Over the last decades, the disability movement has been advocating for a paradigmatic shift in how disability is perceived and managed: from a medical or individual perspective focusing on the person's body and mind to a social perspective emphasizing the context and barriers of disability. However, we still know little about the perceptions of hel...

The Editors of Assistive Technology are soliciting papers for a special issue that will be devoted to the recent rise in development and research regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and their relevancy to promoting quality of life and social inclusion of people with disabilities. We are interested in manuscripts that will provide e...

לאנשים עם מוגבלות היו הזדמנויות מועטות במהלך ההיסטוריה ליטול חלק פעיל ולהשתתף בקבלת החלטות בתחומים הנוגעים לחייהם. בוגרים עם לקות למידה קשיי הסתגלות ותפקוד היו חלק אינטגרלי מצוות המחקר הנוכחי והם שהחליטו על הנושא הנחקר. מטרת המחקר: לבדוק האם קיימים הבדלים בתחושות האוטונומיה ( מודעות עצמית, רגישות לאחר ויכולת התמודדות עם מצבים חדשים) הדימוי עצמי ואי...

Although many nations advocate for the full inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in all realms of life, these individuals are nevertheless still frequently excluded. One field of life that has rarely been considered central for inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities is military service. A unique programme was developed tha...

Background It has been argued that interpersonal contact is the best intervention for reducing negative attitudes and discrimination toward individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). In Israel, the Equal in Uniform project makes it possible for individuals with ID to serve alongside soldiers without ID in ordinary military units in the Israel...

Some have argued that stigmatization of individuals with intellectual disabilities may be rooted in the terms used to describe the condition, others have maintained that stigma may be inherent in the condition itself, not in the label used. This study took advantage of a recent change in terminology introduced in Israel to examine differences in st...

Background: Despite policies advocating the social inclusion of persons with disabilities in all settings that are a part of everyday life within society, individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are usually excluded from service in the military. Aims: This study examined the meaning of service in the military for individuals with ID from...

Purpose Recent research has promoted the use of supported decision making, in contrast to historical methods of substitute decision making when working with people with intellectual disabilities. In Israel, people with disabilities are protected by the Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law of 1962, which was amended in 2016. The purpose of this paper...

Introduction: People with disabilities often identify professionals’ stigmatic views as significant barriers to accessing mainstream services. This study aimed to examine differences in stigmatic attitudes held by social workers toward individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID), mental illness (MI), or dual diagnosis (DD) of ID and MI. Methods...

Objective: Examine physicians' implementation of effective communication principles with patients with intellectual disabilities (ID) and its predictors. Methods: Focus groups helped construct a quantitative questionnaire. The questionnaire (completed by 440 physicians) examined utilization of effective communication principles, attitudes toward...

Background Research in the field of family quality of life (FQOL) emphasises the importance of attainable support resources for families of children with developmental disability (DD). In this study we explored FQOL by examining some of its specific domains and expanded upon them. The 2 main aims were to examine differences in FQOL according to the...

Background: The present study aimed to explore the applicability of the attribution model to social workers' attributions towards clients with dual diagnosis of intellectual disability and psychiatric illness. Specifically, the study examined the relations between social workers' attribution of responsibility, causality, stereotypes of dangerousne...

המחקר הנוכחי בוצע ביוזמת בית איזי שפירא, כתוצאה מהניסיון הנצבר במהלך שנים רבות של פעילות מגוונת, העוסקת בנושא עמדות הקהילה כלפי אנשים עם מוגבלות. המחקר אשר השווה בין עמדות של ילדי גן חובה כלפי ילדים עם מוגבלות פיזית, ילדים עם לקות שמיעה וילדים רגילים, הינו ראשון מסוגו בישראל, כמו כן בספרות המקצועית הכלל עולמית ניתן למצוא מעט מאוד התייחסות מחקרית לנ...

Negative attitudes and discrimination remain everyday realities for many individuals with intellectual disabilities. This chapter provides an overview of interventions aimed at reducing intellectual disability stigma and encouraging more positive perceptions and interactions. Based on a multilevel model of stigma change interventions, this chapter...

Adequate measurement tools are mandatory in order to enable researchers to examine the extent and severity of stigma and develop effective stigma change interventions. However, the theoretical foundations and methodological frameworks in this field are underdeveloped. This chapter highlights the main theoretical and methodological challenges facing...

Article 12 of the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes all persons with disabilities as having legal capacity in all areas of life. However, in adherence to the Israeli Legal Capacity and Guardianship Law (1962), many persons with intellectual disability (ID) or mental illness (MI) have these rights revoked because of t...

As part of the UCL Grand Challenges Global Health Scheme, this project investigated and compared international efforts to raise awareness and combat stigma towards people with intellectual disabilities. This report outlines the background information gathered through the analysis of State Party reports submitted to the United Nations Convention on...

Studies in the area of intellectual disability (ID) stigma are few and atheoretical. This study examined the adequacy of the conceptual framework of stigma from the mental illness field regarding ID. Telephone interviews were conducted with a nationally representative sample of 304 adults in Israel. Participants were read a vignette describing a ma...

Background Stigma may negatively impact individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID). However, most studies in the field have been based on the use of direct measurement methods for assessing stigma. This study examined public stigma towards individuals with ID within a representative sample of the Israeli public by comparing direct versus indir...

Background Research supports the importance of sports for people with intellectual disability (ID); however, the unique experience of the Special Olympics (SO) World Games has rarely been examined. The aim of this study was to examine how the SO World Games have affected athletes with ID, their parents and siblings, and the relations between their...

Background Studies have shown that beyond public and self stigma, stigma can also impact family members. Only scant research has examined the internalised aspects of stigma, known as affiliate stigma, among family caregivers of individuals with disabilities. This study examined affiliate stigma among family caregivers of individuals with developmen...

Background: It is well established that people with intellectual disabilities are at higher risk of developing mental illnesses. This study aimed to assess the need for a specialized service for people (children and adults) with intellectual disabilities and mental health problems living in Israel. Methods: Our research question was: is there a nee...

Studies have shown that stigmatization is linked to lower quality of life; however, only scant research has examined the association between family caregivers' internalization of stigma (affiliate stigma) and their subjective quality of life (subjective well-being, SWB). Furthermore, studies have rarely examined this association via comparison betw...

Purpose: Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) and individuals with mental illness are consistently found to be among the most socially excluded populations and continue to face substantial health, housing, and employment disparities due to stigma. Although this has spurred extensive research efforts and theoretical advancements in the s...

Background: The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities enshrines the right of people with intellectual disability to optimal mental health services. However, the literature suggests that psychiatrists' ability to meet such a standard is questionable. Psychiatrists' self-assessment regarding their training, knowledge and skills in wo...

Background Psychiatrists are responsible for providing proper care for people with intellectual disability who have psychiatric disorders. This study examined psychiatrists' perceptions of their own training, knowledge and therapeutic skills, as well as their attitudes towards this population. Methods Questionnaires were distributed to 679 psychiat...

Background: Out-of-home mobility refers to the realization of trips outside the home, by foot or by other means of transportation. Although out-of-home mobility is important for the well-being of older people with cognitive impairment, its importance for their caregivers is not clear. This study aims to clarify the relationship between caregiving...

Providing holistic care to individuals with the dual diagnosis (DD) of intellectual disability and mental illness is a challenging task that requires the work of various health care specialists. The aim of the current study was to examine the intentions of students from various fields to work with individuals with DD. A questionnaire was completed...

Problems with out-of-home mobility are among the more common behavioral disturbances in dementia. Today people with dementia can be aided by easily accessible assistive technologies, such as tracking devices using Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Attitudes toward these technologies are still inconclusive and their use with people with dementia rai...

Hope, as a basic resource in human life, may affect individuals' perceptions of subjective well-being (SWB). Further, understanding individuals' needs is essential to improving their SWB. It is unclear how the impact of hope on SWB may be mediated by needs. The current study aimed to examine a mediation model for the relation between hope and SWB a...

Needs of individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) must be understood in order to promote recovery. This study examined the needs of 206 individuals with SMI and compared their perceptions with those of their professional caregivers. Needs were reported in the areas of accommodations, psychotic symptoms, daytime activity, intimate relationships...

The theoretical construct of stigma has received much attention in psychiatric disability research, leading to the development of widely used measures. Such measures have had real world impact in that they allow for the assessment of stigma change efforts. The study of stigma has not received the same level of attention for persons with intellectua...

Providing adequate care to individuals with intellectual disability (ID) requires the willingness of students in various health and social professions to care for this population upon completion of their studies. The aim of the current study was to examine the factors associated with the intentions of students from various fields to work with indiv...

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have recently been employed to help monitor persons with dementia. While the advantages of such technologies are clear, making use of them raises a number of ethical dilemmas. Considering the fact that social workers may be called upon to assist families in making decisions regarding the use of GPS, their attitudes...

Dual diagnosis (DD) refers to the coexistence of intellectual disability and psychiatric disorder. In order to provide individuals with DD with adequate care, it is essential for mental health workers to have adequate knowledge and positive attitudes. These may be achieved through proper training. To summarise the available literature examining the...

A range of professionals needs to work collaboratively in providing services for the growing numbers of people diagnosed with autism. Given the challenges of recruiting health professionals to work with people with disabilities in general, it is important to understand the factors that affect students' choices about working with people with autism,...

The issue of using advanced tracking technologies such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS) is part of a wider debate on the acceptability of assistive technology to older people with dementia. The use of GPS can enhance the personal safety of older people by alerting caregivers to potential dangers or adverse events that might threaten the individu...

In recent years advanced technologies, such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS), allow for tracking of human spatial activity and provide the ability to intervene to manage that activity. The purpose of this study is to examine the issue of who should decide about the use of electronic tracking using GPS for people with dementia. Based on quantitat...

Recently developed tracking technologies may be useful in managing mobility problems among elders with cognitive impairment. For clinical and research purposes it is critical to assess research participants' cooperation with the tracking protocol. The aim of the current study was to assess the ability of older adults with various levels of cognitiv...

Attachment theory was employed as the theoretical framework for the purpose of examining attitudes toward people with disabilities. A total of 404 Jewish Israeli students without disabilities completed the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities (MAS) and the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale (ECR). Reading a scenar...

Background: Out-of-home mobility refers to the realization of trips outside the home, by foot or by other means of transportation. Although out-of-home mobility is important for the well-being of older people with cognitive impairment, its importance for their caregivers is not clear. This study aims to clarify the relationship between caregiving b...

This study aims to investigate the effect of observer's gender and target's gender on attitudes toward people who use wheelchairs due to a physical disability. Four hundred four Jewish Israeli students without disabilities completed the Multi-dimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities (MAS). Initially, confirmatory factor analysis...

in this study we examined the ethical aspects of the use of the Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to track people with dementia. The findings are based on qualitative data gathered from focus groups of family and professional caregivers. The most important theme was the need to balance patients' need for safety with the need to preserve their autono...

This study examined the attitudes of family and professional care-givers towards the use of advanced electronic tracking such as GPS (Global Positioning Systems) and RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) for elderly people with dementia. The study revealed four principal findings. First, care-givers' views ranged from feeling obligated to use the t...

The Family Quality of Life Survey (FQOLS-2006) was developed as the result of increased interest in family quality of life (FQOL) among families with a member who has an intellectual disability (ID). The instrument includes nine life domains and six dimensions reflecting the main areas and characteristics of FQOL. The aim of the current study was t...

The effect of out-of-home residential placement on families has been previously studied. However, no study has examined this issue through the lens of “family quality of life” (FQoL). The aim of this study was to produce a picture of FQoL among families with a member with an intellectual disability (ID) who has multiple diagnoses (i.e., an addition...

One of the more common behavioral manifestations of dementia-related disorders is severe problems with out-of-home mobility. Various efforts have been attempted to attain a better understanding of mobility behavior, but most studies are based on institutionalized patients and the assessment usually relies on reports of caregivers and institutional...

Inconsistent findings obscure understanding the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was to test the association between individual and community SES at birth and risk of schizophrenia. Population-based longitudinal follow forward study of a 13-year birth cohort (n = 71 165). Effects of ind...

This study presents the development of a new instrument, the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities (MAS). Based on the multidimensional approach, it posits that attitudes are composed of three dimensions: affect, cognition, and behavior. The scale was distributed to a sample of 132 people along with a self-esteem measure...

This study presents the development of a new instrument, the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale Toward Persons With Disabilities (MAS). Based on the multidimensional approach, it posits that attitudes are composed of three dimensions: affect, cognition, and behav-ior. The scale was distributed to a sample of 132 people along with a self-esteem mea-su...