October 7, 2015 Georgia

Georgian health and social workers change their attitudes towards people with disabilities

On 2nd and 3rd October 2015 training for health professionals and social workers was held in the Georgian town Zugdidi. It was focused on overcoming the common obstacles faced by people with disabilities when visiting a doctor or staying in hospitals. Right at the beginning, participants got familiar with what forms of disabilities there are.

The subject of training was also to have appropriate communication with people with disabilities, their (human) rights, the principles of bioethics, how to properly use technical terms, andr how to carry out medical examinations starting from their availability.

Lectures Tamar Makharadze from the Georgian Association of Social Workers and Professor Givi Janashvili from the Georgian health legislation and bioethics company also pointed out the social impacts of disability and the role of social workers in improving access to relevant health and social services. Caritas Czech Republic put particular emphasis on applying the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, which has been in force in Georgia since April, 2014.

Throughout the five-day training for state social workers from the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, the subject of the training focused on the question of disability, social work and basic interdisciplinary approaches in healthcare. Through group collaboration, there will be sessions for social and health workers and similar activities in Kakheti on 9th of October 2015.

Caritas Czech Republic activities for promoting quality of life for people with disabilities are funded by the Czech Development Agency. Training was developed in cooperation with local partner organizations, namely the Georgian health legislation and bioethics societies, Georgian Association of Family Doctors and Georgian Association of Social Workers.