💬 From 19 to 21 August 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣4️⃣ we worked fruitfully and held a three-day training session of the Global Course on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Children during Wartime at the America House Kyiv.
More than 20 first responders to children and their caregivers and parents after the de-occupation of Ukrainian territory, including Civilian military cooperation workers (CIMIC), police and State emergency officers, mobile teams in Kyiv and the region, improved their knowledge and gained valuable practical skills inadequate support for children and their families.
Over three days, participants:
✔️ got acquainted with the concepts of psychological well-being and methods of its measurement, ways of support, identification of signs of distress, and their role in providing psychosocial support;
✔️ created a map of comprehensive support for mental health and psychosocial well-being, the interaction between the public and non-governmental sectors, and the organizing referrals.
Participants learned more about interacting with community service providers and discussed recommended and unacceptable approaches when dealing with children with traumatic experiences. They practiced techniques for working with children individually and in groups according to age needs and with the involvement of parents or caregivers.
Among the trainers are Марта Пивоваренко / Marta Pyvovarenko, Head of the Department of Quality Assurance of MHPSS Services at the NGO "Community Self-Help", Kateryna Buchko, PhD, lecturer in Social Work and Pedagogy at the Ukrainian Catholic University, and Dr. Suzan Song, Director of the Global Center for Child and Family Mental Health at Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard University.
"Our course addresses mental health and psychosocial support for children and parents, and it takes into account the risks of losing a parent during the occupation, so it also covers the participation of caregivers. This training is inclusive, well-designed due to its modular structure, and fully complies with the general principles of assistance by international practice. At every planning and implementation stage, our colleagues from Harvard University communicated with UNICEF, the Protection Cluster (Children’s Sub-cluster in Ukraine), and the MHPSS TWG (Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Technical Working Group) in Ukraine. We work in such a way as to not only conduct the training as successfully as possible, but also to support service providers in the future, to stay in touch with them", says Marta Pyvovarenko, Head of the MHPSS Quality Assurance Department at the NGO "Community Self-Help".
Today, the training participants are actively implementing the experience and knowledge gained in their communities, and we are preparing for supervisory support and certification. At the same time, preparation is underway for the following training groups for the de-occupied communities of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Sumy, and other regions of Ukraine, which are trying to recover from the occupation period and restore not only infrastructure but also the psychosocial well-being of children.
The “Supporting the Mental Health of Children in De-Occupied Territories of Ukraine” Project is implemented by the Boston Children's Hospital's Global Health Program of Harvard University (USA) in partnership with the NGO “Community Self Help” (Ukraine).
