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Multidisciplinary mobile teams helping thousands in Ukraine have estimated that one in five families are in need of mental health support, as the war continues to upturn lives.
Since March 2022, 50 mobile teams put together by UNICEF and the Ukrainian Public Health Foundation have been busy addressing the needs of families affected by the war. Each team consists of a psychologist, social worker, lawyer and doctor.
According to the teams, the most common requests for help are medical aid (15 per cent), humanitarian aid (15 per cent), assistance in processing social benefits (14 per cent), assistance in employment (8.5 per cent) and housing searches (8 per cent).
So far, teams have assisted over 170,000 people affected by the war, including families with children. In total, more than 700,000 services have been provided in the Lvivska, Zakarpatska, Rivnenska, Vinnytska, Dnipropetrovska, Chernivetska, Volynska, Zhytomyrska, Khmelnytska, Ternopilska and Ivano-Frankivska regions. Over one fifth (22 per cent) of its services have been provided to children and 8 per cent to people with disabilities.
One of the main tasks of the specialists is to identify people who are suffering from violence or abusive treatment. Since the beginning of the war, they have received more than 44,000 requests for help with this issue and provided emergency assistance, such as recommending available services, stabilising the emotional state of those in need, creating an action plan together with clients, searching for temporary shelter if necessary, and referring to relevant services, including psychological rehabilitation.
Information
Multidisciplinary mobile teams provide socio-psychological assistance to war-affected people. This assistance includes psychological first aid and support, legal counselling, social support and services, medical assistance (consultation, online communication with doctors, referral to other specialists), and provision of humanitarian kits and informational materials.
Each team includes a psychologist, a social worker, a lawyer and a doctor. Mobile teams work in support centres for forcibly displaced people and at Spilno Spots. The specialists drive their own cars to provide help where it is needed and consult people remotely by phone or via video link. To contact the teams, please, click this link.
Media contacts
Olha Pryshko
Communications Specialist
UNICEF in Ukraine
Email: opryshko@unicef.org