Idud (“Encouragement”) Program to Treat Children with ADHD at Four Jerusalem Schools: Executive Summary of an Evaluation Study

At least five percent of school-age children suffer from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Idud was an experimental program aimed at providing a holistic service within the school setting that included diagnosis and treatment of children with the disorder and counseling and guidance for their parents and teachers. The program’s target population was children diagnosed with ADHD who were in grades 1–5 at four Jerusalem schools. The program was implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Health: the Jerusalem Institute of Child Development, the Jerusalem Municipality (Education Department), and Ashalim.

The program was evaluated by a comprehensive study conducted by the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute and the Jerusalem Institute of Child Development that aimed primarily to examine the program’s effectiveness in identifying, diagnosing, and treating the behavioral symptoms and in furthering the children academically and socially. The study included interviews with children with ADHD and with their parents, teachers, and classmates.

Among the findings:

  • The DSM-IV questionnaire completed by the teachers and parents was found to be a successful and effective instrument for preliminary identification of children with ADHD. Ninety-five percent of the children whom the screening diagnosed with ADHD had the diagnosis confirmed by the diagnostic unit at the Jerusalem Institute of Child Development. The findings lead to the conclusion that a multi-system diagnosis combining preliminary diagnosis of ADHD by the children’s teachers and referral to professionals for further diagnosis would greatly reduce the problem of under-diagnosis at a young age.
  • The attention, concentration, and behavior measures all showed improvement after the program.
  • Although no improvement in cognitive ability was found in the tests, the parents and teachers reported that the program had contributed to a considerable improvement in the children’s ability to organize material for school and to carry out assignments.
  • The findings of the study show that at the end of the program the social status of children with ADHD is not very different from that of other children. Reports by the parents and teachers at the end of the program reveal that it had helped to enhance their social status.
  • The most important contribution that the program made for the teachers and parents from their perspective was that it furnished them with knowledge about the disorder and with tools to help them cope better with the children’s behavior. About two-thirds of the parents felt that the program had enhanced their ways of coping with their child. Approximately 90% of the teachers had made changes or adjusted their teaching methods for children with ADHD as a result the program.
  • Approximately half of the parents reported a change for the better in their relationship with the school. A similar proportion of the teachers reported that they had gained a better understanding of parents with ADHD children.

The main findings, along with key components of the program were disseminated in the course of the study at special training programs for educational staffs. They are also being used by the regional Matiyot centers in their ongoing training of school staffs from around the country. The findings have been presented to key representatives of the Ministries of Education and Health.

As part of the broader effort to disseminate the findings and promote the program, this report is being released at a national conference in February 2008 that will bring together key policymakers, educators, and leadership from the field. A handbook to the implementation of the program, The Idud Program—Nekuda Method: School-based Program for Treatment of Children with ADHD (S-124-08, Hebrew), is also being released at the conference.

The study was made possible by the support of the Mandell Berman Fund for the Research on Children with Disabilities at the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, with the assistance of Ashalim and the Ministry of Health.