ODI- Open Dialogue Israel, PBC

O.D.I. is a public benefit company reshaping the mental health field in Israel, focusing on a number of serious ailments: 1 - "Revolving door" phenomenon - recurring mental hospitalizations 2 - Compulsory hospitalization, stigma and violation of human rights in standard psychiatric treatment 3 - Low efficiency of treatments that leads to the development of chronic conditions Open dialogue is a family - social network based approach, firmly grounded in research, with proven effectiveness treating and preventing mental crises outside the hospital, in the community. The approach, developed in Finland, offers a dialogic, humane way of developing services for mental health both in hospitals and outpatient treatments. ODI's vision is that anyone facing a mental crisis will have access to a quick, accessible, and publicly funded Open Dialogue treatment. We are working to educate and integrate the approach in Israel while working for policy change on a large national scale. Our pyramid impact model: ODI trains staff members in existing institutions to work in the open dialogue approach. that way they are converting from the standard way of doing psychiatry (in clinics and mental wards) to mental health teams that go out to the community and meet networks at their homes. In this way, we are able to create a deep transformation in a number of institutions simultaneously and reach more end-users in an effective and ecological manner. Each stride in the direction of ODI's vision, contributes to 4 significant and necessary changes in the mental health system in Israel: Reducing the number of psychiatric hospitalizations- Today there are about 24,000 hospitalizations a year, almost 80% of which are re-hospitalizations (the "Revolving Door" phenomenon). Studies have found that OD reduces the number of hospitalization days and of re-hospitalizations in about 50% compared to the standard treatment. Restoring power back to the support system - increasing the involvement of family members in dealing with mental crises. Using the existing resources in the person's natural support system to deal with the crisis. Raising the ethical standard in the field of mental health - OD is a nonviolent approach to extreme crisis situations. It has been recognized by the UN as an approach that allows treatment without human rights violation, in situations otherwise treated in the psychiatric system, where unfortunately even today there are blatant violations of basic human rights. Cost Effectiveness- It is estimated that OD will reduce costs to the state over time in 3 ways: 50% reduce of re-hospitalizations 50% less benefit claims for disability pension (in Israel, this means reducing costs for rehabilitation assistance as well). The cost of operating a mobile “OD” system that provides service at the customer's home is much more economic than operating a hospital.