Ukrainian healthcare providers under siege during the first year of war: challenges and adaptations

Alexandra A. Deac; Irina Zaviryukha; Oleksandr Zeziulin; Anna Peycheva; Renata Solórzano de Souza; Harry Skipper; Asmau Abubakar; V. Benjamin Gustilo; Sheela V. Shenoi; Graham Thornicroft; Julia Rozanova

doi:10.1192/bji.2023.43

BJPsych International (May 2024)

Ukrainian healthcare providers under siege during the first year of war: challenges and adaptations

Alexandra A. Deac,
Irina Zaviryukha,
Oleksandr Zeziulin,
Anna Peycheva,
Renata Solórzano de Souza,
Harry Skipper,
Asmau Abubakar,
V. Benjamin Gustilo,
Sheela V. Shenoi,
Graham Thornicroft,
Julia Rozanova

Affiliations

Alexandra A. Deac: ORCiD; MSc, Research Affiliate, Department of Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College London, London, UK
Irina Zaviryukha: MD, Researcher, European Institute of Public Health Policy, Kyiv, Ukraine
Oleksandr Zeziulin: MPhil, Senior Researcher, European Institute of Public Health Policy, Kyiv, Ukraine
Anna Peycheva: MSc, Research Affiliate, Department of Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College London, London, UK
Renata Solórzano de Souza: MSc, Student, Department of Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College London, London, UK
Harry Skipper: MSc, Student, Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
Asmau Abubakar: MSc, Student, Department of Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College London, London, UK
V. Benjamin Gustilo: MSc, Student, Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College London, London, UK
Sheela V. Shenoi: MPH, Associate Professor of Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Graham Thornicroft: PhD, Professor of Community Psychiatry, Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Julia Rozanova: PhD, Lecturer in Global Mental Health, Department of Health Service and Population Research Department, King's College London, London, UK. Email

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bji.2023.43
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 21
pp. 35 – 37

Abstract

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The overlapping COVID-19 crisis and the war starting in 2022 threaten front-line healthcare workers’ mental health, well-being and job retention in Ukraine. This paper provides a synopsis of a panel discussion held by the Global Mental Health Humanitarian Coalition in May 2022 and expert consultations with clinicians between December 2022 and February 2023 on these challenges. The crises created new problems and exacerbated many pre-existing difficulties. We found that healthcare workers had needed to mobilise previously untapped strengths, including portable emergency medical documents and bespoke local psychosocial support services, amid the costs and pressures of ongoing healthcare reforms.

Published in BJPsych International

ISSN: 2056-4740 (Print); 2058-6264 (Online)
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry: Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system: Psychiatry
Website: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-international

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