Social services department was established in August 2000 in the primary health centers. The department strives to achieve preventive, therapeutic and developmental goals through family, social and psychological support to families and communities. The department communicates with official community stakeholders to raise the social and psychological awareness among different community groups.
The main objectives of the department are:

1. Support the family, social and psychological stability for family and community members through the prevention of family and social conflicts.
2. Increasing the social and psychological awareness among different community members and educating them about special methods of dealing with problems, conflicts and crisis.

• Services provided by the Social Services Department
  • The Social Services Department in primary health provides a variety of services based on family guidance and counselling, which include:
    • Family and social Counseling Services:
      • Family counselling is the process of helping family members (parents, children, and relatives), individually or as a group, in understanding the family roles and responsibilities, to achieve domestic stability and solve family conflicts.
      • Target groups: all age groups attending the social worker at the health center.
    • Marital counseling service:
      • This service was launched on October 14, 2010, as an integrated service in the premarital screening program. Marital counselling service is the process of helping the individual to choose his or her partner and to help them engage in marital life to achieve compatibility and solve pre and post-marital conflicts.
      • Target group: individuals attending the pre-marital screening program.
    • Social assistance service:
      • It is a service designed to help low - income families by providing them with essentials such as diapers and infant milk.
      • Target group:
        • Children up to six months old ( milk )
        • Children up to one-year-old (diapers)
    • Postpartum depression Service:
      • the service helps women with moderate postpartum depression, to gain basic life skills that help her balance the psychological and social aspects of her life. The condition is diagnosed by postpartum depression questionnaire provided to all women attending the postnatal clinic in the health center.
      • Target group: Women with mild to moderate postpartum depression.
    • The mobile Unit Service:
      • The service was launched in August 2008 in cooperation with the elderly health committee in primary health. The department receives cases referred by the elderly mobile unit in need of socioeconomic support and suspected cases of elderly abuse or neglect.
      • Target group: elderly.
• How to reach the social services at the health center
  • • Through a referral from physicians or nurses working in the health centers.
    • The social worker will call the individual to set an appointment.
    • The social worker will determine the nature of the problem and the appropriate service needed to solve the problem.
    • Collect and record all the information and data on the situation in the form of the social services department.
    • Field visit to situations as needed, by prior agreement with the situation and the family.
    • Comprehensive study of the situation by the social worker and develop appropriate plan to provide the required service.
• Dates of service
  • Scheduling of cases by social worker depends on the nature of the problem, its extent and the circumstances of the case. also follow-up cases are conducted on an ongoing basis according to the nature of the problem.
• Centers where the service is available
  • Social workers present in all health centers (25) in the morning period only.
• Activities of interest to clients
  • • Awareness and education programs:
      • Include awareness and educational activities to raise social and psychological awareness, and to promote family social and psychological stability among various community groups. Also through coordination with the Health Promotion Directorate and concerned stakeholders.
      • Awareness and education programs include:
        • Lectures and workshops in schools and community organizations.
        • Health events.
    • Media programs:
      • Include informational programs to raise awareness of social services in line the Ministry of Health policy. the media programs include:
        • Press and radio programs.
        • Educational pamphlets and brochures.
        • TV programs.
    • Websites:
      • Studies, research and health information:
        Include studies, research and health information; and the preparation of research studies and special social studies about family and the community.
      • Social programs:
        • Exploration visits to the institutions of “public/private “concerned with social and psychological services.
        • Participation in social and recreational programs and special local and international events.

• Child Abuse
  • is defined as any act which endangers the safety of the child or his growth processes (physical, mental health, psychological or social) . some parents abuse their children in the belief that its discipline and protection from aberrant behaviors . some types of abuse includes:
    1. Physical abuse:
       The intended use of force abuse the child and cause damage of varying severity (including all kinds of beatings, burning and other means of physical abuse ).
    2. Sexual abuse:
       It includes and sexual action or situation for the child that will directly or indirectly harm the child, and destroys the sense of security and affect his future growth.
    3. Emotional abuse:
       Includes all acts that will psychologically hurt the child the use of profanity words like cursing, and emotional deprivation of love, care and neglect ..etc.
    4. Neglect:
       ailure to meet the needs of the child and the neglect of his feelings, goals and needs, and thus depriving of basic living means to grow like eating or drinking, personal hygiene, or the provision of health care. Studies have shown that some mental disorders (like Schizophrenia) are associated with child abuse, especially sexual abuse. Hence, we recommend parents, educators and everybody to not use cruelty in dealing with the child under any excuse, and be rational in dealing with him, and increase their knowledge about useful and feasible educational methods in dealing with their children, either by reading or seeking advice from experts in the field; like the social workers in all health centers.
• Violence against women
  • Violence against women exists in every culture. violence is everywhere however its intensity, and its acceptance, differ from one society to another. Violence is defined as a behavior or act characterized by aggressiveness from one individual in order to exploit and subjugate another individual, in the context of a disproportional relationship resulting in physical, moral, or psychological damage. Violence includes insults and verbal abuse, beatings, murder, assault... etc.
    Forms of violence:
    1. Physical violence (beating, wound, fractures…etc).
    2. Psychological violence (insults, verbal abuse, abandonment, detention ...etc).
    3. Sexual violence (rape, sexual harassment ...etc).
    4. Economic violence (non - spending, expulsion from the marital home, prevent women from working … etc).
    5. Legal violence (arbitrary divorce, parentage proof ....etc).
    Types of violence:
    • Violence within the Family:
      Includes domestic and family violence.
      Domestic Violence: conducted by a husband or Fiancée, Ex-husband or an intimate closely related to the victim.
      Family Violence: conducted by family members (father, uncle, brother...etc).
    • Violence within the community:
      • It is the violence against women and girls outside the framework of the family and can be made by strangers or people from the social environment of the victim, it is reflected, for example, through verbal and physical attacks faced by women in the street or in public places.
      • Violence in the workplace: is reflected through verbal, physical and sexual attacks experienced by women from a colleague or the chief at work. As well as various measures that affect the freedom and rights at work ( sexual harassment, exclusion of liability for being female, wage discrimination...etc.)
    • Violence by the State:
      • Committed by the formal institutions of the state and be direct or indirect.
      • Direct state violence in the laws, procedures and decisions discriminatory towards women.
      • Indirectly through tolerance of violence against women ,absence of restraining deterrent measures , the spread of the values of violence and male domination , the absence of formal institutions to ensure that victims of violence are women...etc.)
    Effects of violence on battered women and society
    • Health and psychological deterioration for women:
      • Abused women show physical symptoms such as injuries, fractures , stomach and intestines disorders and other chronic health complaints . also victims become frequently disappointed and frustrated which cause mental disorders such as depression, tantrums and others.
    • Social consequences of violence against women, and the transmission of these effects across generations, as many studies have indicated that violence against women in the family and social violence are closely related.
    • The economic cost of violence against women:
      • Violence against women leads to poverty, it also burdens the national budget that could have been dispensed if no such violence is practiced against women (for example, the costs of justice systems, police stations, courts, health services, housing and social services offered to violence victims). It is required to globally end violence against women, and develop legislation to stop violence against women and consider this case a human rights issue for all social institutions. We advise every woman who experienced any form of violence and by any person to visit the health center to see a doctor and consult a social worker to help stop the violence by all means available.
• Marital counseling at health centers and their importance Advice
  • Marital counselling is one of the new services in the health centers, which was launched on October 14, 2010, and provided by social worker as an integrated service for the pre-marital screening program, to build a family on sound foundations, and provide support and assistance in solving marital problems.
  • Target groups:
    • Couples planning to marry.
    • Married couples.
    • Divorced and widowed.
  • Marital counseling goals:
    • Educate couples about correct marital foundations that ensure continuity.
    • Help couples achieve self and marital relationship satisfaction to ensure the happiness and stability of the family.
    • Help both spouses to understand the role required of them within the family.
    • Achieve personal, social and psychological compatibility.
    • Prevention of problems that may occur between the couple and assistance in solving them if they occur.
  • When can you ask for advice?
    • If you are planning to get married and you want to identify the specific aspects of the marital relationship.
    • If you are having a marital problem.
    • If your marital relationship has ended and you need to support.
    • Remember:
      • Marital counseling is an effective way for couples to work on solving their problems.
      • Marital counseling help to sustain Marital life based on valid grounds.
      • Marital counseling is typically offered in the presence of both parties, and sometimes through individual sessions based on the needs of couples.
• Psychological coping skills and stress management
  • The psychological pressure, tension and anxiety are an integral part of this era. psychological pressure is defined as a negative reflection on human biological, mental and behavioral health as a result of excessive demands on the environment that often exceed the capacity of the person.
  • The definition of stress management:
    Is defined as the identification and analysis of problems associated with stress and the application of a number of therapeutic tools to change either the source of stress or its influence and includes the following:
    1. Changes in some of the sources of pressure.
    2. Changes in the person under pressure.
    3. Changes in the interaction between the individual and the environment.
  • Coping skills and dealing daily pressures of life with:
    1. Re-evaluate your life and set up a program or a personal plan for stress management.
    2. Willingness to change and a commitment to deal with stress factors.
    3. The practice of different types of relaxation exercises and breathing skills.
    4. Promotion of values and religious beliefs, such as reading or listening to the Quran.
    5. Happiness in the present moment of life.
    6. Defining roles and time management.
    Remember to prepare for the future and preparing for it is essential for success, but it must not be at the expense of the present. we must not sacrifice the current fulfillment for the future long term goals.
• Important Links
  • • www.elazayem.com
    • www.Nafsany.cc
    • www.Naseh.net
    • www.adhd.org.sa
    • www.Maharty.com