Unveiling Innovative Approaches to Mental Health Support for Displaced Ukrainian Populations

Join us for a collaborative webinar showcasing the groundbreaking efforts of EU4Health-funded projects in providing vital mental health support to Ukrainian refugees amidst the ongoing crisis.

HaDEA's support has propelled pioneering projects like WELL-U, U-RISE and MESUR dedicated to fortifying mental health resilience and support networks for displaced populations.

The Well-U project adapted and implemented a series of tools and interventions to support refugee children and their caregivers in Italy, Greece, Hungary and Romania. This provides the basis to collect and disseminate best practices, knowledge and training materials. The final objective is to conduct 18 trainings, train at least 270 lay professionals and reach around 780 beneficiaries.

The U-Rise project supports the implementation of mental health interventions adapted to the specific and diverse needs of refugees from Ukraine. More specifically, it aims to:

• Reinforce the European network of Ukrainian and Russian-speaking mental health professionals to exchange practices;
• Implement face-to-face psychological interventions in Slovakia, Poland and Romania;
• Develop plans to scale up and transfer these interventions across the EU.

The MESUR project facilitates treatment options for displaced persons with depression, addressing the treatment gap that displaced people often face. It will provide immediate mental health support by translating into Ukrainian and Russian the digital, evidence-based intervention tool “iFightDepression®” and making it available in Poland, Germany, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and Estonia. It also organises trainings for health professionals and deliver a best practice guideline and an implementation toolkit.

During our webinar, we will delve into the strategies employed by each project to empower non-specialized professionals in providing culturally sensitive and trauma-informed care to Ukrainian refugees. Our discussions will explore scalable approaches aimed at enhancing mental health and psychosocial well-being, all while prioritizing accessibility and long-term sustainability.

Our agenda will feature concise presentations from each project, followed by engaging discussions led by our moderator. Key questions to be addressed include how to effectively empower non-specialized professionals, ensure accessibility to a wider demographic, and leverage insights from adapting mental health interventions for Ukrainian refugees to inform global policy recommendations.

Join us for an enriching session where experts will share their insights, experiences, and visions for a more resilient mental health support system for displaced populations worldwide. Don't miss this opportunity to contribute to meaningful change and solidarity.

Speakers:

 Iryna Frankova PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at the department of clinical, neuro- and developmental psychology, Vrije Universiteit  Amsterdam and senior researcher at the ARQ centrum 45, the Netherlands. Dr. Frankova is a U-RISE Work package lead on networking and  awareness rising and Problem Management Plus trainer, she was involved in the developed first psychological aid digital tool for Ukraine’s  people affected by war. 

 Sara Salmi is an anthropologist, in charge of EU and Emergency Response project management. Specialized in the crossing of gender and  youth while adopting human-centred, in-depth and observation-based qualitative research methods to generate valuable questions, gain deep insight and most importantly, translate the results into actionable strategies for impactful change.

 Alice Brunoro is a psychologist with master’s degree in Etnopsychiatry and Migration Psychology. Specialized in social development and implementing preventive, support and mediation interventions in cases of individual and social distress aimed at promoting the integration of groups at risk of exclusion and/or belonging to different cultures and ethnicities. 

Simge Celik Stojanovic is a psychologist with a Master's in Neuropsychology from Bristol, UK, and a doctorate from Heidelberg University, Germany, focusing on neuropsychology and dementia research. Currently, she works as a Project Manager at European Alliance Against Depression (EAAD), overseeing EU-funded projects like MESUR.

Facilitator: Pamela Nunez Basante from SOS CVI

The webinar will be in English with Ukrainian interpretation.