Mental Health for Ukraine Project (MH4U)
The overall objective of the project was to improve the quality of care and psychosocial support for people with mental disorders in Ukraine. The project facilitated the increased provision of mental health services in the community. There was a scientific consensus that mental health services are best provided in local community settings in most cases. Therefore, the project facilitated an optimal mix of comprehensive services using both informal and formal care and empowering patients to participate in decision making regarding their health and treatment. In addition, a necessary component of community-based care was effective collaboration between health and social service providers who were aware of and responsive to the needs of the community.
There were three expected outcomes:
- National and state authorities provide an appropriate legal framework, institutional support, coordination and leadership for community-based mental health care.
- Mental health service providers provide evidence-based services that are accessible and coordinated across sectors and levels of care.
- The Ukrainian population is more aware of ways to prevent mental disorders and more open to using mental health services.
In addition, governance was a cross-cutting theme that cut across all three project outputs and their respective activities and outcomes. Strengthening existing governance structures underpinned a number of project activities, with various coordination mechanisms established to ensure the participation and accountability of these existing structures.
