Lviv Oblast is the first region in Ukraine to introduce such a program at the regional level.
On November 6, Lviv OVA held an organizational meeting regarding the implementation of the Comprehensive Program of Mental Health Protection and Psychosocial Support of the Civilian Population in Lviv Oblast in Lviv Oblast communities (Programs).
The meeting was attended by Ivan Sobko, the deputy head of the Lviv OVA for humanitarian issues, the adviser to the head of LOVA, the head of the Coordination Center for the support of the civilian population at LOVA, the head of the working group for the implementation of the Program Halyna Bordun, the heads of the departments of health care, social protection, education and science of LOVA , as well as members of the working group.
As Ivan Sobko noted, for the implementation of the Program in communities, it is first of all important:
to form a route for patients within the healthcare unit (receiving medical assistance);
form coordination and routing of clients within the mental health unit;
within the education block: organize specialized training in psychology and school principals and teachers.
In particular, in the first weeks of December, meetings will be held with the heads of all communities of the region to discuss the first steps in implementing the Program on the ground.
“Supporting the all-Ukrainian mental health program “How are you?”, with the help of partners from public and professional communities, the Lviv Regional Military Administration is doing everything step by step to implement the mental health program in Lviv Oblast. We start with the fact that the program is implemented not only in big cities, but also in smaller communities, so that psychological help is accessible and understandable for the population.
An important factor in increasing the availability of social services in the field of mental health care is informing the population about the content and providers of such services. This is one of the issues that we will discuss with community leaders in December,” Ivan Sobko emphasized.
“Our key goal is to help people gain knowledge, coordinate, have information about referrals and create psychosocial support centers on the map of Lviv Oblast.
Our main goal within the education program is for parents, teachers, and children to get some knowledge about psychological first aid, and information about where to go, how to help yourself, what you need to know about stress, and the challenges we face today. we have
Within the education block, our goal is also to conduct specialized training for already practicing psychologists. We have already managed to train 400 people together with the Ukrainian Catholic University and the mental health center “Family Circle”. Already in December, we are planning a separate training for teachers so that they will receive highly specialized knowledge on psychological first aid,” said Halyna Bordun.
She also noted that a key strategy within the Program in the block “Social Protection” is to expand the network of elderly people and people with disabilities in communities, who would understand where they can turn for help, where there are assistance centers for them, as well as the creation of in the communities of leisure centers for this category of people and conducting specialized training in the communities for older people in care, so that people can take care of their own category of people for social support.
Let’s add that in Lviv Oblast, on the initiative of the head of the Lviv OVA Maksym Kozytskyi, they started to create a system of psychosocial services (map).
You can call the hotline number of the Lviv region 112 or find a help center in your community (psychological, legal or other help). More details here.
We will remind you that the Comprehensive Program of Mental Health Protection and Psychosocial Support of the Civilian Population in the Lviv Region for 2023-2026 was presented in September of this year. Lviv Oblast is the first region in Ukraine to develop such a program at the regional level.