Last month, URC visited the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy School of Public Health and Polissia National University in Kyiv, Ukraine to foster collaboration in the area of community mental health.
After meeting with representatives from the universities on June 21 to learn about their work to address community mental health needs with relevant interventions, URC signed memorandums of understanding with both universities.
The MOU signing preceded a consultation on community-based mental health in Warsaw, Poland, supported by the URC-implemented USAID Health Evaluation and Applied Research Development (HEARD) Project and Implementation Science Collaborative partner network. The Institute for Psychology and Neurology (IPIN) (Poland) and URC hosted the consultation, which included colleagues from Jagiellonian University (Poland), Nicolae Testemitianu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (Moldova), and the two Ukrainian universities mentioned above.
The convening informed the agenda and upcoming efforts to generate more evidence on promising community-based mental health interventions.
Mental health in Eastern Europe, and in particular in Ukraine, is a priority area expected to need development support in the years to come. URC hopes that these new relationships and conversations will jumpstart a review of effective community based mental health and psychosocial support interventions in Ukraine and inform our future collective assistance to the people of Ukraine.
