As war dropped in Ukraine with Russian invasion it made its traumatic impact on people. Affected by the war many Ukrainian people has been traumatized constantly dealing with danger, loss, grieve, helplessness and anxiety. In such circumstances the more people are in urgent need of immediate mental health assistance. Our volunteers have worked tirelessly since the beginning of the war to provide medical and humanitarian relief to refugees affected by the current war situation in Ukraine. We have partnered with several national and international organizations. We continue to provide support to the displaced communities to cope with the urgent medical and humanitarian needs.

• There were an estimated 10 million people displaced by the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Several of them have found refugee within Ukraine and many others have been welcomed into homes across other European countries. But there are still many who have nowhere to go or are waiting with home to return to their homes.
• We are supporting two such centers which are serving as medium term homes for nearly 400 refugees at the Polish border. The below content was written by our coordinator in Ukraine and has been retained in its original form. It’s a challenge for Mental Health Care System of Ukraine. Because it has to adjust to new demands and modalities to be able to help more people, who didn’t require for help before.

Mental health care in Ukraine is a new field, that only started to build up over the last decade. The main tasks of building and supporting Mental Health Care System in Ukraine before the war were:

• Stimulating leadership, coordination and institutional strengthening of national and regional structures that ensure the work of the mental health sector.
• Improving the quality and accessibility of mental health services by promoting alignment of services at different levels and familiarization with the world's best practices and science-based tools.
• Promoting public awareness of mental health issues, as well as the quality and effectiveness of mental health care to reduce stigma to ask for psychological help.

And now in circumstances of war all these tasks became extremely important to be supplied for Mental Health Care System in Ukraine. At the beginning of war many people started to ask for psychological help relying a lot on support of mental health professionals via Crisis Support Service Volunteer Teams who provide psychological assistance and crisis intervention. There were also created support groups and trainings to help Ukrainian people (both inside and refugees who successfully moved outside the country) deal with all horrible things they had to survive through and to cope with the current mental strain. Thus, Mental Health Initiatives became vital for Ukraine. Along with Humanitarian Aid for Ukraine AarogyaSeva provides and supports Mental Health Initiatives in Ukraine.

Mental Health Support Service for Ukraine is one of the Mental Health initiatives of Aarogya Seva that aims to meet the health care needs of Ukrainian people who require psychological assistance, crisis intervention and support, promote awareness about mental health issues, provide medical support and reduces stigma to ask for psychological help in circumstances of war. Aarogya Seva mobilized the team of Global Health volunteers to help Ukrainian people to deal with all horrible things they had to survive through and to cope with the current mental strain. With a strong network of doctors (including highly qualified psychiatrists and psychologists) and non-medical volunteers from all around the world and Ukrainian mental health professionals Aarogya Seva has all the required artillery to be of service to Ukrainian people. Within Aarogy seva Global Health Volunteer Alliance we provide following activities:

• Psychological assistance and crisis intervention for Ukrainian people.
• Support group therapy for Ukrainian refugees.
• Group supervision for mental health professionals and volunteers working with traumatized individuals to prevent secondary trauma and burnout.
• PFA online training and support for volunteers including those who help along the border.
• Increasing education on mental health care for Ukrainian people in circumstances of war.

Our partners

We are partnering with other non profits, local Rotary Clubs, International relief agencies and Ukrainian mental health organizations.

Inquiry

If you have some propositions or interested in any additional information, email us: kiev@aarogyaseva.org