Ukraine: Access to mental health services through primary care doctors
Living under constant stress brought on by the uncertainty of the war has frayed the nerves of many Ukrainians. The need for mental health services has grown dramatically. One in five people in Ukraine may be suffering from mental health issues due to war and conflict.
“I was worried for a very long time about all sorts of problems, but with the beginning of the war, these problems simply intensified.”
Patient
With support from the World Bank, the Ukrainian government has launched a large training programme for primary care providers to screen for and address mental health issues.
“The requests for mental health services grew,” says Roksolana, a family doctor in Lviv. “The war is a hard challenge to bear for our society. The symptoms include loss of ability to sleep, increased anxiety, decreased physical capabilities, and loss of interest in everyday life—on the emotional level. That is why our first and foremost task is to help these patients recover and return to their lives, improving the quality of their lives.”
Also, equipping primary care providers to handle mental health issues is making access to mental health services more available and is helping to tackle stigma.
“For my generation, having such mental health services in the clinics means popularizing and normalizing these services among the younger generation."
Patient
The World Bank is reconnecting people with preventative healthcare, restoring regular checkups, recovering childhood immunization coverage, and improving access to medication for people with chronic conditions. Primary care providers receive training in providing initial mental health help and support victims of gender-based violence. The development of rehabilitation services is also scaled up.
This is how the support works in practice: After a doctor sees a patient and the service is recorded, the doctor and the facility receive a payment for the rendered services from the National Health Service of Ukraine. The government and the World Bank share the costs which opens additional fiscal space for the Ukrainian government.
The text is adapted from the World Bank’s immersive story Strengthening Ukraine's Healthcare in the Midst of War. In the story you can read more about how the World Bank supports the Ukrainian Government in maintaining and strengthening health services in wartime. Norway supports the «Health Enhancement and Lifesaving» project (HEAL) through the World Bank’s Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund (URTF). The fund supports the Ukrainian government in maintaining administrative and service capacity and implementing relief efforts, as well as planning and rebuilding the country.