Forget me not

Russia's war in Ukraine has led to a mental health crisis in the country. According to the World Health Organization and the Ukrainian government, the number of people suffering from mental illnesses has increased by 436 percent compared to 2018. At the same time, funding for treatment facilities has decreased by 50 percent over the same period. The reason for this is the economic crisis in the country, which has been severely affected by the war. Even in the “good” year of 2018, the Ukrainian healthcare system was only able to offer appropriate help to around 30 percent of all people in need of psychological support. Now, the mental health system is on the verge of collapse due to a hundredfold increase in the number of patients, a shortage of staff, and a lack of funding. 

The aim of the project is to create a network of trained non-medical helpers and trainers for psychological first aid (PEH) in Ukrainian communities. This national network of trained PEH helpers is intended to help strengthen the population's resilience to mental illness, improve the population's general knowledge of how to support people with mental illnesses, and relieve some of the pressure on the Ukrainian healthcare system.

The project's pilot phase is taking place in five Ukrainian communities. E-learning curricula are being developed for mental health assistants and commissioners. In addition, training is being provided for mental health officers and non-medical first-aid assistants for mental health. Furthermore, a mobile information and communication room for mental health is being developed. During the project's development phase, the activities will be expanded to include additional projects at the national level. The aim is to create a coordination center for a national network of non-medical mental health services. Overall, the project will run until 2026.