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The Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute (MJB) is a Jerusalem-based applied research and consulting institute on social policy and human services, serving Israel, the Jewish world, and the international community.
The Institute's mission is to identify and study key social issues, and contribute to shaping policy, designing programs and improving services for individuals, families, and communities.
In 1974, the JDC-Brookdale Institute of Gerontology was established with a grant from the Brookdale Foundation as a partnership between the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (AJJDC) and the Government of Israel. [1]
The Institute's original focus was on addressing the challenges of an aging society in Israel. Over time, this mandate expanded to include a broad range of social challenges facing Israel, including children and youth at risk, integration of immigrants and other minorities, integrating people with disabilities, employment of disadvantaged populations, and improving the quality of the social service sector. [2]
In 2004, the Cleveland-based David and Inez Myers Foundation joined the partnership with a $15 million endowment gift. In recognition, the Institute was renamed the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute. [3]
Today, MJB includes 3 research groups, including 10 research teams: The Family Group (Children and Youth team, Aging team, Disabilities team, Social Inclusion team); Systems group (Health Policy team, Employment team, Arab Population team); Quality in Social Services Group (Outcomes team, Quality Assurance team); and Pathfinder Research Innovation and Development team.
In 2017, Prof. Michael Hartal was named Executive Director, replacing Prof. Jack Habib, who had been with MJB since its founding.
The Institute's multi-disciplinary approach is reflected in the diversity of the 130+ research and support staff, who have backgrounds in anthropology, economics, education, gerontology, health, psychology, public policy, social work, sociology, statistics, and more.
MJB's Governance Committee includes representatives from the Israeli Government (ministries of Finance; Education; Health; Labor, Social Affairs, and Social Services; Ministry of Social Equality; and the National Insurance Institute (Israel's Social Security Administration), the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the David and Inez Myers Foundation.
As a partnership between the government and the philanthropic sector, MJB seeks to "promote the application and impact of the research while ensuring academic independence and objectivity." [4]
At the core of the Institute's work are evaluations of national social initiatives, both in their development phase and the national dissemination phase. [5]
In the 1990s, the mass immigration of Ethiopian Jews in Israel created a need for an entirely new social policy and service infrastructure to promote their integration into Israeli society. The Institute evaluated a number of the national initiatives, such as the Ethiopian National Project and PACT (Parents and Children Together), which were established as partnerships between the government and Jewish philanthropic sources. [6]
Also in the 1990s, the Institute began conducting the National Consumer Health Survey, a bi-annual national satisfaction survey of Israel's national health insurance system. The findings are consistently cited by the four national health care plans in their competition for new members. [7]
The National Program for Children and Youth at Risk was developed with the professional input of MJB researchers in the mid-2000s, and the Institute has remained involved in the program's expansion. [8] A number of national initiatives to address the challenges of aging society have been developed and evaluated by the Institute, including Israel's first National Strategy for Dementia and other Alzheimer's in 2013, and programs to promote employment among seniors. [9] A 2019 study on patient-centered care measured the implementation of this approach in fertility clinics, and helped to raise national awareness of the active role that patients can take in their own medical care. [10]
The Institute also promotes international exchange among researchers and policy makers. [11] It is a co-sponsor of the Israel Journal of Health Policy Research. [12] MJB is also responsible for the Israel country report to the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. [13]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Institute conducted a national survey of health behaviors among the Israeli public. The survey found that 43% of adults ate more than they did prior to the pandemic, 56% of their children increased their intake, and both groups saw a rise in junk food consumption. In addition, one-third of adults reported worsened quality of sleep. [14]
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization is active in more than 70 countries.
The Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF) is the central philanthropic address of Chicago's Jewish community and one of the largest not-for-profit social welfare institutions in Illinois. JUF provides critical resources that bring food, refuge, health care, education and emergency assistance to 500,000 Chicagoans of all faiths and millions of Jews in Israel and around the world, funding a network of 100+ agencies, schools and initiatives.
The Jerusalem College of Technology - Lev Academic Center is a private college in Israel, recognized by the Council for Higher Education, which specializes in providing high-level science and technology education to the Jewish community. More than 2,000 of JCT's 4,700 students are ultra-Orthodox, and the remainder of the students are from diverse segments of Israeli society including Ethiopian-Israelis, national religious and international students.
The education system in Israel consists of three tiers: primary education, middle school and high school. Compulsory education takes place from kindergarten through 10th grade. The school year begins on September 1, ending for elementary school pupils on June 30, and for middle school and high school pupils on June 20. Haredi Yeshivas follow an independent schedule, starting on 1 Elul.
The Negev Bedouin are traditionally pastoral nomadic Arab tribes (Bedouin), who until the later part of the 19th century would wander between Saudi Arabia in the east and the Sinai Peninsula in the west. Today they live in the Negev region of Israel. The Bedouin tribes adhere to Islam.
Harold Richman was the founding director of Chapin Hall Center for Children, a policy research center at the University of Chicago known for pioneering methods of collecting, linking, and analyzing administrative data from public agencies to help monitor outcomes of children and youth and their families involved in U. S. public programs. He was Hermon Dunlap Smith Professor Emeritus of Social Welfare Policy at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and the College.
Patient participation is a trend that arose in answer to medical paternalism. Informed consent is a process where patients make decisions informed by the advice of medical professionals.
Reuven Gal is an Israeli social and clinical psychologist, a social activist and entrepreneur, researcher, author and consultant in the field of behavioural, communal and social sciences.
Dr. Arthur J. Naparstek was a professor of social work and Dean of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He was an expert on urban redevelopment and neighborhood revitalization whose community-building concepts served as the basis for local and national government programs in both the United States and Israel.
Mandell "Bill" Berman (1917–2016) was the businessman and philanthropist behind the Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Foundation, which supports Jewish education, and research and study of the contemporary American Jewish community. His philanthropic focus was on the storage, dissemination, and preservation of Jewish data, as well as Jewish education and special education.
The Institute of Gerontology (IOG) at Wayne State University conducts research on the behavioral and social aspects of aging. Located in Detroit, Michigan, the Institute has a strong focus on urban issues, especially disability, mobility and transportation, financial challenges, and disparities in health between ethnic groups. Faculty at the Institute are jointly appointed with a home department in a complementary discipline, such as economics, physical therapy or nursing. The Institute also maintains a Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging laboratory currently profiling brain changes in normal aging through traditional testing and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of participants brain structure and function.
Neve Midbar Regional Council is one of two regional councils formed as a result of a split of Abu Basma Regional Council on November 5, 2012. This regional council is situated in the northwestern Negev desert of Israel and populated by the Negev Bedouin.
al-Kasom Regional Council is one of two Negev Bedouin regional councils formed as a result of the split of the Abu Basma Regional Council on November 5, 2012. Al-Kasom regional council is in the northwestern Negev desert of Israel.
The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a public health observatory established through an intergovernmental partnership, hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, which specialises in the development of health systems within Europe.
Arnon Mantver is an Israeli professional. who served as Director General of JDC-Israel from 1995–2014. In 2007, Mantver accepted the Israeli Lifetime Achievement Prize on behalf of JDC-Israel. Mantver has also held the following roles: Director General of the Department of Immigration and Absorption at the Jewish Agency (1989-1995); Director General of the Israeli Forum; Founder and Volunteer Chairman of Otzma; Manager of the Center for Immigration to Israel in the northwest United States.
Israel–Sri Lanka relations are official relations between Israel and Sri Lanka.
Jacob "Jacky" Lomranz is a professor emeritus at The School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University. He was a former head of the M.A. program for clinical-gerontological psychology at the Ruppin Academic Center.
Roni Strier is a social work researcher, educator, and activist. He is an associate professor at the University of Haifa School of Social Work, Founder and Head of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Poverty and Social Exclusion.
Ne’emanei Torah Va’Avodah (Hebrew: נאמני תורה ועבודה is a nonprofit organization in Israel that focuses on education research and policy in the Religious Zionist community. The organization supports democratizing the State-controlled religious services, so that the public plays a greater role in religious decision making and functions.
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