Gesher LaNefesh Social Impact Bond

Health

Gesher LaNefesh Social Impact Bond

Reducing hospitalizations for those struggling with mental illness

The Project

A Social Impact Bond with a pay-for-success model to promote community mental health, the first in Israel and the sixth globally. The goal is to develop an advanced home and community treatment service for individuals struggling with severe psychiatric disorders, which will improve and stabilize their mental and physical condition, ensure they utilize their legal rights, connect them to rehabilitation services, and reduce the length and frequency of hospitalizations in psychiatric and general wards.

The intervention program is based on the FACT principles – Flexible Assertive Community Treatment.

The Impact

Each year, over 20,000 people are hospitalized in psychiatric hospitals in Israel. 78% of them are re-admitted. This phenomenon, known as the "revolving door", points to a shortage of community mental health services. Psychiatric hospitalization disrupts psychological and functional continuity, causes detachment from the patient’s support system and familiar intimate home environment, and is often associated with regression, dependency development ("institutionalization"), and public and self-stigma.

By shifting the focus of the treatment to the community, the Meuhedet HMO in collaboration with SFI and the Sharan Company have created an intensive and holistic therapeutic response for the at-risk population.

Expected Outcomes:

Reducing hospitalization length and psychiatric admissions
Reducing general hospitalization and ER visits
Increase in eligibility and utilization of disability benefits and rehabilitation services
Community integration and improved quality of life for people struggling with mental illness

Looking Ahead

This model will create measurable social impact, enable patient-centered, tailored and flexible evidence-based case management, promote best practices for Meuhedet's members, and scale nationally.