Beyond outputs, a scalable model for documenting child MHPSS outcomes in a crisis: remarks by Reda Sadki at the 18th European Public Health Conference

On November 12, 2025, the 18th European Public Health Conference hosted a symposium organized by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The session, “The heart of resilience: lessons from mental health support for children and young people affected by conflict in Ukraine,” explored the large-scale mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) initiative developed by the IFRC with support from the European Commission.

The panel was moderated by Dr Aneta Trgachevska, who coordinated this initiative at the IFRC Regional Office for Europe. She was joined by four panelists: Emelie Rohdén and Ivan Kryvenko from the Swedish Red Cross Youth, Martina Dugonjić, a primary school teacher from Croatia, and Reda Sadki, Executive Director of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF).

As part of the IFRC-led initiative, TGLF developed the first Certificate peer learning programme on Psychological First Aid (PFA) in support of children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. In his remarks, Mr. Sadki explains how this model’s success has led to its transformation from a time-limited project into a self-sustaining digital network proven to improve children’s health and well-being outcomes. Following the completion of the EU4Health project, the Geneva Learning Foundation has committed to supporting this community-driven system for five additional years, until 2030.

The following remarks from Reda Sadki have been edited for clarity and coherence from the panel transcript and expanded with examples from the project’s insights reports.

Aneta Trgachevska: Reda, we heard that enabling environments and peer-to-peer support and learning are very important. The Geneva Learning Foundation has developed a huge and diverse set of tools within the project to support professionals working with children displaced from Ukraine. Can you tell me from your perspective, working with these professionals, what you have noticed? What are the challenges and needs, and how have they managed with this environment and situation?

Reda Sadki: Thank you, Aneta. At The Geneva Learning Foundation, we research, develop, and implement large-scale peer learning systems that really drive change, all the way to health outcomes that can be attributed to the activities involved.

We took on this challenge with IFRC of reaching outside the Red Cross networks to support people who work in education, social work, and health. These are three complementary, but potentially very different groups. The common thread was that they were all involved in supporting Ukrainian children.

How did we start? I think what brought us together with the IFRC was a shared culture of listening and of paying attention to the needs of communities. Rather than presuming, we used that listening to build initiatives.

What that meant is that before launching a peer learning programme, we asked questions. We asked questions about your situation, about your context. What we had within less than four weeks was 873 context-specific descriptions of challenges faced by practitioners, in Ukraine and throughout Europe.

And those 873 descriptions told us a powerful story. The challenges were not abstract. They were immediate and acute: pervasive anxiety and fear, especially in response to air raid sirens; children showing sudden aggression or complete withdrawal; and the profound social isolation of being displaced.

We made some pretty radical changes very quickly based on this listening. The first was language. We had assumed most people would be professionals outside of Ukraine who are supporting displayed children. Our data showed the opposite: 76 percent of participants were in Ukraine itself, and 77 percent preferred to learn in Ukrainian. So, we changed our plan immediately and launched in Ukrainian from day one. That was the most obvious, but one of the most significant, changes.

The second thing we found was the profound sense of professional isolation. The feedback we received was overwhelming on this point. More than any tool, what these practitioners valued was connection. It was the most important thing to them. We heard it in their own words. One participant from Ukraine wrote: “It is very important to know that I am not alone with these problems.”. An English-speaking colleague wrote, “It was so helpful to hear that other teachers are facing the same challenges. It makes you feel less alone.” This sense of community, we found, is a powerful antidote to burnout.

We also found was a significant knowledge-to-action gap. Our focus was on Psychological First Aid for children. There is already excellent technical training. But we realized that in some cases, people had been through formal training but had struggled to connect that with application. They wondered, “How do I take that and actually put it to use?”

Our data confirmed this. When we analyzed their plans, we saw a strong preference for practical, concrete support.

Aneta Trgachevska: I really think it is important to have these tools, training, and capacity building, so that the frontline responders that are on the ground can provide adequate and timely, quality Psychological First Aid and mental health support to children.

Reda Sadki: Alongside the knowledge and skills, what I heard from my fellow panelists is also about emotion and connection.

The challenge we took on is that we are looking at how to connect people who may not have anyone to talk to. Who would rather be on a squawky Zoom call than being human together with fellow humans in a physical space? No one, I think. But in some cases, you do not have a choice. It is the only way to connect.

The main result is that alongside the amazing MHPSS infrastructure of the Red Cross, we contributed to building a digital infrastructure that helps people connect.

The first main result is a self-sustaining network. What that looks like is that staff and volunteers from 331 organizations, 76 percent of them from Ukraine, participated in the programme. These partners include large non-governmental organizations and small, locally-led groups working close to the front lines. Together, these organizations represent approximately 10,000 staff and volunteers that are supporting 1 million Ukrainian children.

The network is owned by its members. People volunteered to serve as European PFA focal points in their local area. Pretty much overnight, we found ourselves with 91 very dedicated volunteer leaders from Ukraine and 12 European countries.

Alongside that, we had 20 organizations that joined as formal programme partners. And these partnerships were tailored to their real-world needs. For example, Posmishka UA, one of the largest non-governmental organizations in Ukraine, sent 400 of their staff to join our Impact Accelerator. Or, another partner, SVOJA, an organization in Croatia founded and led by Ukrainian refugee women, needed a flexible programme that aligned with their unique “by refugees, for refugees” mission. This digital infrastructure allowed us to include both.

The key result is really around health outcomes. The capstone activity of our programme is called the PFA Accelerator. This is our “learn-by-doing” model. It is not a traditional course. It follows a simple weekly rhythm: on Monday, you set one specific, practical goal. On Friday, you report on what happened. And you give and receive both feedback and support.

This structure helps practitioners move from vague intentions to concrete action. For example, one participant, Yuliia, moved from an initial goal of “I want to help children with their emotional state” to a specific, measurable goal: “This week I will hold a session for a group of teenagers (6 people) aimed at developing self-help skills. We will practice the grounding technique ‘54321’.”

This weekly reporting cycle, this “learn-by-doing” model, then allows us to measure what really matters: health outcomes for the children. It allowed us to document specific, tangible ways that participation was linked to improvements in a child’s well-being.

We call these “attribution-level outcomes,” which, as many of us in public health know, is the holy grail. We cannot afford to just train professionals and hope for the best. We were able to both document and measure that because of their actions, the children they support showed tangible improvements in their mental health and well-being. For this purpose, Kari Eller, a Ph.D. candidate whose work was supported by The Geneva Learning Foundation, developed a simple, easy-to-use instrument in line with the IASC’s call for tools for busy humanitarian practitioners who lack formal mental health training, but are in fact the only ones there when support is critical for children. This tool was then discussed and improved by practitioners themselves before they began to use it.

I want to share three qualitative examples from our practitioners’ Friday reports. Hundreds of such reports describe how a professional used what they learned from the network, and that led to improvements in the health and well-being of the children they were supporting.

• One teacher in Kharkiv, working with children who panicked during air raids, taught them the “butterfly hug” self-soothing technique as a way to provide support. She reported: “One girl, who usually cries for 30 minutes after a siren, stopped crying and was able to start her drawing activity. She told me the ‘hug’ helped her ‘bad feelings go away’.”
• Another practitioner, Юлія, reported on her work with a teenage girl: “During an anxiety attack, the girl began to use the grounding technique we had learned. She was able to calm down on her own. This is a very good result.”
• And finally, Раїса wrote: “When the children heard the siren, they were able to do breathing exercises on their own… They knew what to do and it gave them confidence. The children began to use the ‘safe place’ exercise on their own when they felt anxious.”

With all the public health professionals in the room, we know that attribution is the challenge. We feel that in a small but significant way, we found a method to document it. Because of the volume of data, which also includes quantitative measurement, we quickly see patterns of outcomes. These practitioners are not just learning theory. They are successfully applying their skills in ways that demonstrably restore a sense of calm, safety, and function for children in crisis.

As one participant, Olha, reflected, “This experience did not just add to my knowledge—it completely redefined the essence of my profession. I no longer just heal wounds; I build oases of safety in the midst of chaos.”

That is the impact we are documenting. Thank you very much.

The initial development and implementation of this programme (2023-2025) was funded by the European Union through a project partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). All ongoing activities, content, and their delivery from 1 September 2025 are the sole responsibility of The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF).

Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2025. In Seed of Silence, the artist captures a moment of profound stillness, the fragile intersection of innocence, nature, and transformation. The child’s face, serene and introspective, is encircled by sculpted layers resembling petals or scales, evoking both protection and metamorphosis. The materiality of the form, textured, earthen, and softly colored, blurs the boundary between organic and human, suggesting that resilience and renewal are rooted in both. The muted palette of ochre, rust, and blue recalls soil, flame, and sky: elemental forces that cradle life even amid crisis. This image resonates deeply with the work of those documenting children’s mental health and psychosocial well-being in humanitarian contexts. Here, art becomes a quiet witness, not to trauma itself, but to the enduring capacity for growth, reflection, and rebirth. Through silence, the piece speaks of healing.

References

1. Sadki, R., 2025. How practitioners in Ukraine and across Europe built a self-sustaining peer learning network to support children. https://doi.org/10.59350/25pa2-ddt80
2. Sadki, R., 2025. PFA Accelerator: across Europe, practitioners learn from each other to strengthen support to children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. https://doi.org/10.59350/redasadki.21155
3. Sadki, R., 2025. Peer learning for Psychological First Aid: New ways to strengthen support for Ukrainian children. https://doi.org/10.59350/dgpff-n9d63
4. Sadki, R., 2024. Support of children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine: Bridging practice and learning through the sharing of experience. https://doi.org/10.59350/zbb4v-hay69
5. The Geneva Learning Foundation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2025. Діти у кризових ситуаціях, спільноти підтримки – Застосування першої психологічної допомоги для підтримки дітей, які постраждали від гуманітарної кризи в україні. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.14901474
6. The Geneva Learning Foundation, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2025. Children in Crisis, Communities of Care – Psychological first aid for children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.14732092
7. The Geneva Learning Foundation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2024. Перша психологічна допомога дітям, які постраждали внаслідок гуманітарної кризи в Україні – Досвід дітей, опікунів та помічників. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.13730132
8. The Geneva Learning Foundation and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2024. Psychological first aid in support of children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine: Experiences of children, caregivers, and helpers. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.13618862

#certificatePeerLearningProgrammeOnPsychologicalFirstAidPfaInSupportOfChildrenAffectedByTheHumanitarianCrisisInUkraine #childProtection #children #europe #europeanUnion #globalHealth #healthOutcomes #internationalFederationOfRedCrossAndRedCrescentSocietiesIfrc #learning2 #mentalHealth #mhpss #peerLearning #pfa #psychologicalFirstAid #psychosocialSupport #genevaLearningFoundation #ukraine

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗮𝘆 — 𝟭𝟬 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲: 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘀

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: there is no health without mental health. Crises — conflicts, disasters, displacement, disease outbreaks — leave deep emotional wounds. While about 1 in 5 people in conflict-affected areas will have a mental health condition, almost everyone affected experiences distress, loss and disruption. Supporting mental health in emergencies saves lives, protects dignity, and helps communities recover.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗼:
- 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝘁: check in with friends, neighbours, displaced people and colleagues — listening matters.
- 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰𝘀: offer Psychological First Aid — create safety, calm and connection; help people find services.
- 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲: urge decision-makers to include mental health in emergency plans and fund community-based services.
- 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲: help people access medication, follow-up and specialised services when needed.
- 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀: ensure rest, supervision and peer support for responders.

𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀:
- Stay connected with trusted people.
- Keep simple routines, sleep and move daily.
- Limit alcohol and news overload.
- Use self-help tools, community supports, and seek professional care when needed.

We must ensure inclusive, coordinated mental health and psychosocial support — reaching children, older adults, people with disabilities, refugees, and those with pre-existing conditions. Investing in mental health is investing in recovery and resilience.

𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹: 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗠𝗛𝗣𝗦𝗦 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲.

#WorldMentalHealthDay #MentalHealthInEmergencies #MHPSS #PsychosocialSupport #MentalHealthMatters #HumanitarianHealth #SupportSurvivors #ProtectResponders #InclusiveCare #InvestInMentalHealth #ContinuityOfCare #CommunityRecovery #SCABPharmacy

Peer learning for Psychological First Aid: New ways to strengthen support for Ukrainian children

This article is based on Reda Sadki’s presentation at the ChildHub “Webinar on Psychological First Aid for Children; Supporting the Most Vulnerable” on 6 March 2025. Learn more about the Certificate peer learning programme on Psychological First Aid (PFA) in support of children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Get insights from professionals who support Ukrainian children.

https://youtu.be/ba702Ehdgtk

“I understood that if we want to cry, we can cry,” reflected a practitioner in the Certificate peer learning programme on Psychological First Aid (PFA) in support of children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine – illustrating the kind of personal transformation that complements technical training.

During the ChildHub “Webinar on Psychological First Aid for Children; Supporting the Most Vulnerable”, the Geneva Learning Foundation’s Reda Sadki explained how peer learning provides value that traditional training alone cannot deliver. The EU-funded program on Psychological First Aid (PFA) for children demonstrates that practitioners gain five specific benefits:

First, peer learning reveals contextual wisdom missing from standardized guidance. While technical training provides general principles, practitioners encounter varied situations requiring adaptation. When Serhii Federov helped a frightened girl during rocket strikes by focusing on her teddy bear, he discovered an approach not found in manuals: “This exercise helped the girl switch her focus from the situation around her to caring for the bear.”

Second, practitioners document pattern recognition across diverse cases. Sadki shared how analysis of practitioner experiences revealed that “PFA extends beyond emergency situations into everyday environments” and “children often invent their own therapeutic activities when given space.” These insights help practitioners recognize which approaches work in specific contexts.

Third, peer learning validates experiential knowledge. One practitioner described how simple acknowledgment of feelings often produced visible relief in children, while another found that basic physical comforts had significant psychological impact. These observations, when shared and confirmed across multiple practitioners, build confidence in approaches that might otherwise seem too simple.

Fourth, the network provides real-time problem-solving for urgent challenges. During fortnightly PFA Connect sessions, practitioners discuss immediate issues like “supporting children under three years” or “recognizing severe reactions requiring referrals.” As Sadki explained, these sessions produce concise “key learning points” summarizing practical solutions practitioners can immediately apply.

Finally, peer learning builds professional identity and resilience. “There’s a lot of trust in our network,” Sadki quoted from a participant, demonstrating how sharing experiences reduces isolation and builds a supportive community where practitioners can acknowledge their own emotions and challenges.

The webinar highlighted how this approach creates measurable impact, with practitioners developing case studies that transform tacit knowledge into documented evidence and structured feedback that helps discover blind spots in their practice.

For practitioners interested in joining, Sadki outlined multiple entry points from microlearning modules completed in under an hour to more intensive peer learning exercises, all designed to strengthen support to children while building practitioners’ own professional capabilities.

This project is funded by the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of TGLF, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.

Illustration: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2025

Сьогодні останній день подачі заявок. #ukraine #children #MHPSS #PFA https://t.co/eQHh4mGVc5

Already 2 Ukrainian language cohorts
An amazing learning opportunity for international #humanitarians involved in #MHPSS or #childprotection #ukraine https://t.co/fnWRZaMAdh

“Do you have an experience supporting children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine that you would like to share with colleagues? Tell us what happened and how it turned out. Be specific and detailed so that we can understand your story.”

This was one of the questions that applicants to the Certificate peer learning programme on Psychological First Aid (PFA) in support of children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine could choose to answer.

If you are reading this, you may be one of the education, health, or social work professionals who answered questions like these. You may also be a policy maker or organizational leader asking yourself how children from Ukraine and the people who work with them can be better supported.

The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF), in collaboration with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and with support from the European Union’s EU4Health programme, is pleased to announce the publication of the first “Listening and Learning” report focused on the experiences of education, social work, and health professionals who support children affected by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

This new report, published in both Ukrainian and English editions, gives back the collected experiences of 873 volunteers and professionals who applied to this new programme in spring 2024.

Readers will find short, thematic analyses. A comprehensive annex is also included to present the full compendium of experiences shared.

To transform these rich experiences into actionable insights, the Foundation’s Insights Unit applied a rigorous analytical process. This included systematic consolidation of data, thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns, synthesis of key trends and effective practices, and careful curation of representative experiences. This methodology allows for the rapid sharing of on-the-ground knowledge and innovative practices tailored to the specific context of MHPSS in humanitarian crises. As with any qualitative analysis, these insights should be considered alongside other forms of evidence and expertise in the field.

Experiences shared reflect the intrinsic motivation of helpers, their subtle attention to children, the magic of doing the right thing at the right moment. They also describe the personal and practical challenges helpers face when working with distressed individuals and communities, often with limited resources. 

This programme, offered by The Geneva Learning Foundation (TGLF) in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), employs an innovative peer learning-to-action model grounded in the most recent advances in the learning sciences.

To complement existing top-down skills-based training in Psychological First Aid (PFA), we are working with IFRC to create structured opportunities for practitioners to learn directly from each other’s experiences while applying what they learn to their own work, aligning to the best guidance and norms for mental health and psychosocial support. For professionals working in crisis settings, this offers several key advantages:

It leverages the collective expertise and tacit knowledge of practitioners on the ground.

It creates a supportive community of action, connecting professionals across boundaries of geography, hierarchy, and job roles.

It helps bridge gaps between theory and practice by positioning learning at the point of work.

It fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills through peer analysis and feedback.

It is highly adaptable and can be implemented quickly in response to emerging crises.

This process not only enhanced participants’ understanding of Psychological First Aid principles but also built their capacity to critically reflect on and improve their practice. By engaging professionals from across Europe and Ukraine in both English and Ukrainian cohorts, the exercise fostered cross-cultural exchange and mutual learning.

As the humanitarian sector continues to grapple with how to effectively build capacity at scale, particularly in rapidly evolving crisis situations, we believe this peer learning-to-action model offers a promising pathway. It empowers practitioners as both learners and teachers, creating a dynamic and sustainable approach to professional development that can adapt to meet emerging needs.

The Foundation would like to thank IFRC, the Psychosocial Support Centre (PSC), National Societies, as well as the network of governmental and non-governmental organizations across Europe that has engaged in this new approach, as a complement to their efforts on the ground. As the programme continues through to June 2025, this report will be followed by others to share what we learned from successive peer learning exercises, folllowed by the development and implementation of local projects guided by the collective intelligence of practitioners.

We invite you to explore these insights, reflect on their implications for your own work, and consider how this approach might be applied to strengthen mental health and psychosocial support capacity in your own context.

The Geneva Learning Foundation

Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024

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#CertificatePeerLearningProgrammeOnPsychologicalFirstAidPFAInSupportOfChildrenAffectedByTheHumanitarianCrisisInUkraine #children #education #IFRC #InternationalFederationOfRedCrossAndRedCrescentSocieties #mentalHealth #MHPSS #peerLearning #psychosocialSupport #RedCross #socialWork #Ukraine #WorldMentalHealthDay

RT @IFRC_PS_Centre: ROUNDTABLE at MHPSS Momentum, the 30-year anniversary of the @IFRC_PS_Centre on Development of #MHPSS globally – intera…

RT @IFRC_PS_Centre: The @IFRC_PS_Centre turns 30 in 2024. 1000s of RCRC colleagues are implementing #MHPSS across the globe. Others provide…

Mental health and psychosocial support in Ukraine: insights from an interdisciplinary review

A new interdisciplinary review from the ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and VU Amsterdam provides an in-depth analysis of the mental health impacts, cultural and historical factors shaping coping and help-seeking, the evolving humanitarian response, and recommendations for strengthening mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in Ukraine.

The report is an interdisciplinary literature review supplemented by key informant interviews.  It synthesizes academic publications, gray literature, media reports and policy documents in English, Ukrainian and Russian. The review team included Ukrainian practitioners and regional experts to identify additional Ukrainian-language sources.

The review found that the war has led to high levels of acute psychological distress, increased risk of the development of future mental health problems, exacerbation of chronic mental health conditions, psychosocial problems, and an increase in substance use. Exposure to war-related trauma and violence, coupled with the loss of social support systems, poses lifelong risks for a range of mental health issues. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are particularly vulnerable, with previous research showing that “32% of IDPs in Ukraine experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 22% had depression.”  

Children’s mental health is a critical concern, with “three out of four parents report[ing] signs of psychological trauma in their children” such as “impaired memory, inattention, and learning difficulties.” Over 1.2 million children are internally displaced, with approximately 91,000 separated from family care. These are “the most vulnerable children […] living outside their families, residential institutions for children without parental care or boarding schools, unaccompanied and separated children, and children with disabilities.” Displacement disrupts education, social networks and routines. Adolescents struggle most to adapt and connect with new peers. Older children are taking on caregiver roles for younger siblings. The review identifies a lack of policies and programs specifically targeting child and adolescent mental health as a key gap.

Ukraine’s complex history has shaped current attitudes and practices around mental health. The review notes that “Ukraine’s historical memory is fragmented, with evaluations of events varying significantly among different population groups,” compounded by “Russia’s historic and contemporary efforts to rewrite Ukrainian history.” Soviet-era legacies of stigma, institutionalization, and the misuse of psychiatry have bred mistrust of formal mental health services, according to the review. Instead, “help seeking behaviour tends to be directed toward spiritual leaders (clergy) and practices.” Religious beliefs and leaders play an important role in mental health coping and support.

High levels of societal stigma toward mental illness persist, rooted in cultural norms that view psychological distress as a personal weakness or moral failing. Many Ukrainians hide their struggles and avoid seeking professional help due to fears of being perceived as ‘weak,’ receiving a diagnosis that could jeopardize employment, or being involuntarily hospitalized. “Ukrainians still perceive psychiatrists as being highly likely to disclose information about mental health and psychosocial disorders with employers, and therefore, even a single visit to a psychiatric hospital may destroy the future […] There is a particular tendency to hide suicidal thoughts due to high levels of fear of involuntary hospitalisation”, says the report.

Since 2014, conflict-affected areas in Eastern Ukraine have seen an influx of MHPSS services through humanitarian efforts, while recent national reforms have aimed to decentralize and deinstitutionalize mental healthcare. However, the current crisis has disrupted these reform efforts while dramatically increasing MHPSS needs. This presents both challenges and opportunities to “build on available resources” and integrate “successes of the emergency response into building more sustainable mental health care systems.”

The review highlights the stark regional disparities in MHPSS needs and capacities due to variations in conflict exposure, displacement patterns, infrastructure damage, and pre-existing resources. Areas affected by armed conflict face acute challenges, including widespread mine contamination, community distrust, and decimated health services. Meanwhile, safer areas in Western Ukraine are straining to meet the needs of large displaced populations. However, they also have more MHPSS responders and opportunities for longer-term interventions.

To address these complex challenges, the authors stress the importance of cross-sectoral coordination, building on local capacities and cultural resources, and strengthening partnerships between government, civil society, and faith-based organizations. Rigorous research on MHPSS interventions in conflict-affected Ukraine can inform evidence-based responses in the country and globally. 

The review provides a roadmap for strengthening Ukraine’s MHPSS response through a focus on sustainable, locally-grounded, and trauma-informed approaches. While the needs are vast, there are also opportunities to transform mental healthcare and build resilience.

Reference

Iryna Frankova, Megan Leigh Bahmad, Ganna Goloktionova, Orest Suvalo, Kateryna Khyzhniak, 2024. Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Ukraine: Coping, Help-seeking and Health Systems Strengthening in Times of War. ARQ National Psychotrauma Centre and VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Image: The Geneva Learning Foundation Collection © 2024

#armedConflict #coping #mentalHealth #mhpss #psychosocialSupport #ukraine #war

Here is my report on “Mental Health and Psychosocial Support and Transitional Jusitce” commissioned under the auspices of the Executive Office of the UN SG and co-leadership of the OHCHR to inform the new Guidance Note on #TransitionalJustice #MHPSS https://pure.ulster.ac.uk/en/publications/transitional-justice-mental-health-and-psychosocial-support-renew

RT by @EU_Health: Thanks to @EU_Health, 24 European Red Cross societies have joined forces through the #EU4Health project to provide #MHPSS to hundreds of thousands of people from Ukraine.

@RedCrossEU
@IFRC_Europe

#HealthUnion
#MentalHealthMatters

🐦🔗: https://nitter.cz/IFRC_PS_Centre/status/1712362465609081109#m

[2023-10-12 07:00 UTC]

RT @IFRC_PS_Centre: The PS Centre has released three publications addressing the need for MHPSS tools and guidance in Ukraine and surrounding countries.

📚 - https://pscentre.org/23087-2/

#mentalhealth #mentalhealthmatters #mhpss #ifrc #icrc #eu4health #RedCross

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_Health/status/1639250857102389248

RT @IFRC_PS_Centre: With funding from #EU4Health, the #pscentre supports #mhpss programmes of #redcross national societies in #ukraine and neighbouring countries.

#MentalHealthMatters

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_Health/status/1630126840042987520

RT @MHESME: How can we optimise #mentalhealth in the digital age?📲

By adopting a psychosocial model to mental health and by following a value-based #humanrights approach as a central guideline.

Read our report.🔖⤵️

https://www.mhe-sme.org/mhe-releases-digitalisation-report/

#MentalHealth #MHPSS

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_OSHA/status/1615648906531962881

RT @MHESME: 💬Sarah Copsey: “Digitalisation has the potential to improve work if physical and psychosocial work risks are considered when devising new work systems, software, and devices and a person-centred approach is taken.”

#EUHPP
#MentalHealthInAllPolicies
#MHPSS

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_OSHA/status/1613134137392521218

RT @IFRC_PS_Centre: Through trainings and mentoring in psychological first aid funded by #EU4Health, the #IFRC #PSCentre supports #RedCross National Societies in Ukraine, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania 2 provide #mhpss 2 people affected by the armed conflict
@EU_Health
@EU_HaDEA

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_Health/status/1610654246218919937

RT @MHESME: 📌Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities #IDPD2022 🌍

Watch this video to learn how the #UNCRPD changed the way we understand disability, incl. psychosocial #disability.⤵️

💻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCIDkMbJslA

#MentalHealth
#MentalHealthMatters
#MHPSS

@MyEDF @ENIL_EU

🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_OSHA/status/1599076082077966337

RT @highweiss: A few thoughts on Mental Health and Psychosocial support (MHPSS) from a recent Twitter Live! Thanks to DG SANTE we can scale-up further as the trusted actor we are, support with a big RED heart and prevent clinical cases. Scars can be both visible and invisible. @EU_Health #mhpss

🐦🔗: https://nitter.eu/EU_Health/status/1564584235159150593