Viktor Liashko: Psychosocial support of citizens is our main focus

Today, on 8 February 2023, a meeting of the Interagency Coordination Council on Mental Health Protection and Provision of Psychological Assistance to Victims of the Armed Aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine was held.

The event was attended by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, representatives of central executive authorities, major international organizations that implement systemic projects in the field of mental health and psychosocial support.

In her speech, the first lady focused on: 

• efforts that everyone is now making to the maximum (community services, business care for employees' mental health, etc.); 
• the importance of establishing a cross-sectoral system of coordination and response in crisis and emergency situations;
• the importance of functioning of everything that has already been created in the field of mental health and psychosocial support and that has yet to be developed, in a large unified system;
• communication strategy that will help in achieving the goals (fighting stigma, informing people about self-help techniques, etc.)

“Now the price of a word, even a casual conversation, is very high. The word can both worsen a person's condition after experiencing an injury, and support it. I think each of us has felt this repeatedly. That is why everyone who communicates with people, regardless of their profession, should have the skills to take care of their psychological state and be able to explain to others how to do it. This is one of the tasks of our all-Ukrainian mental health program, which should make psychological assistance no less accessible and widespread than medical care,” Olena Zelenska addressed the audience.

The Minister of health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko, in particular, noted that during the last meeting, the results of the audit of citizens' needs for mental health and psychosocial support services, as well as relevant international experience, were processed. These results were sent to the ministries for processing and forming proposals for the map of priority projects that would meet these needs. 

According to the wife of the President of Ukraine, the urgent task now is to explain to compatriots why it is worth contacting mental health specialists, not to be afraid of psychological support, not to be shy about it, as well as to pave help routes for them and teach them self-help. In fact, this means creating a new culture of attitude to mental health in Ukraine. 

Today, Oksana Zbytneva, executive director of the public organization “Barrier-free”, presented an audit of the resources of mental health services - what capacities each ministry has, how they are used, what gaps there are, as well as the vision of the assistance system. It is formed taking into account the requests identified during the needs audit, and based on the best international practices that were studied. 

“The audit of the resources of ministries, which we will pay considerable attention to today, is an attempt to openly talk about our pain points, in order to understand and determine where to ground specific decisions, so that it is effectively managed, and so that it has the result that we all expect,” Viktor Liashko said.

The minister also added that mental health care is a new process for all of us. It will require precise management decisions (there will already be starting points for them), but new knowledge and skills, which everyone should surely master, will also be extremely important. 

“Our task is to give a person access to this knowledge and skills that they can use independently (for example, self-help techniques), and to provide the services that will help a person take care of themselves at the points of their contact with the state and with the world as a whole (during their studies, at work, etc.),” the head of the Ministry of Health explained. "First of all, we are talking about a huge army of the first line of contact, and these are doctors and nurses, officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, border guards at checkpoints, teachers, police and rescuers, social workers, a large army of civil servants, and of course, employers. In a word, everyone who works in the “person – to-person” paradigm.”

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine has submitted recommendations to the action plan for 2023-2025 for the implementation of the concept of mental health development in Ukraine for the period up to 2030, approved by the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 1018-р of 27.12.2017. The Ministry must work out proposals for it together with interested central administrative divisions and partners by 28.02.2023.

The communication strategy developed by Banda agency was also presented at the meeting.

Mental health is formed and affected not in a medical facility, but at the points of our contact with the world throughout our lives (at work, during school, etc.). Therefore, as Viktor Liashko noted, the main focus should be on psychosocial support for citizens, and the main medicine in it is communication. Today's meeting was another step towards bringing mental health services closer to the individual. 

It should be recalled that all-Ukrainian mental health program initiated by Olena Zelenska provides for the creation of its own, Ukrainian, model of the mental health system and psychosocial support, which will absorb the best world and domestic practices. Its task is also to form the habit of taking care of their mental health among Ukrainians in order to find a hidden source of strength in difficult times. The development and implementation of the program is coordinated by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in close cooperation with Ukrainian and foreign specialists. The initiative is being implemented with the support of the World Health Organization. 

The audit of mental health service resources and the development of a communication strategy were made possible by the sincere support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).