By KYIV. May 11 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Seven priority projects of the All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program were presented at the interdepartmental coordinating council, the press service of the government said in a statement.
It is noted that under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and with the participation of First Lady Olena Zelenska, an expanded meeting of the interdepartmental coordinating council on mental health issues and the provision of psychological assistance to persons affected by Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine was held.
“The main direction is the creation of services in communities. They are as close as possible to citizens, so they can effectively contribute to their adaptation and socialization. The role of regional administrations is no less important. It is very important to continue building a network of services that will implement our mental health program,” Shmyhal said.
It is noted that, for its part, the government has started the reform of medical and social expert commissions and military medical commissions.
In turn, the first lady said it is possible to get a result that is tangible for a person only through common actions, because the component of mental health is ubiquitous and equally important in the field of education, and in the social, and in the security and defense sector, and in the field of culture.
In this regard, members of the interdepartmental coordinating council reviewed seven priority projects of the All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, the Ministry of Social Policy, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Sports.
“According to the results of the meeting, the relevant ministries were given the task of approving the concepts of priority projects and plans for their implementation. And also the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Reintegration, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Justice – to develop and present priority sectoral projects at the next meeting of the Interdepartmental Coordinating Council,” the government said.
According to the press service of the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, Minister Yulia Laputina presented the department’s draft “Transition from military service to civilian life (in terms of mental assistance)” at the meeting.
“She said the wounded, the military, veterans, and their families face different needs for providing psychological assistance in the process of transition from military service to civilian life. Therefore, the Ministry for Veterans Affairs plans to provide such assistance through a functioning network of medical institutions and an effective mechanism for providing services through the Assistant Institute veteran, taking into account the principle “Equal to Equal,” the government said.
The Ministry for Veterans Affairs expects to reach a figure of more than 50,000 relevant services annually.
In turn, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said the department has a well-established algorithm for providing emergency psychological assistance to victims of Russian aggression.
“Realizing the importance of these developments, we have strengthened the profile block in the Ministry of Internal Affairs by creating a separate Department of Psychological Support. Since it is important to gather specialists who understand the specifics of the task and know how to overcome problems. But we need to start working on this right now. We are discussing the algorithms that should be. We already have such an algorithm for working at the scene in the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs,” the government press service said, citing Minister Ihor Klymenko.
As noted, the State Emergency Service and the National Police employ 500 psychologists, 55% of whom have already passed the relevant training in the field of mental health.
The Ministry of Culture said it actively contributes to the information support of the All-Ukrainian Mental Health Program “How are you?” and is working on the implementation of the Art of Helping project.
In addition, during the meeting, other ministries also presented their projects in this direction.
Thus, the Ministry of Defense said they would focus on the mental recovery of servicemen and members of their families released from captivity – in particular, through the creation of specialized centers; the Ministry of Social Policy plans to create Resilience centers focused on psychosocial support for residents of communities, first-line specialists, volunteers; the Ministry of Health will ensure the availability of services for the restoration of mental health at the primary and secondary level of medicine through family doctors; the Ministry of Education will form the skills of mental stability at all levels of education, from preschool to higher education, as well as transform the psychological service in the education system; the Ministry of Sports through the SpivDiia platform will provide a psychological support service for adults, children and adolescents.
“In Ukraine, it is also planned to create Civilian Support Centers. They aim to ensure effective interaction and coordination with executive authorities, law enforcement and other government agencies, local government, public organizations and build an effective mechanism for administering needs, resources and services,” the government said.
