Introduction
The conference “Hidden Wounds of War” will bring together specialists from Europe and North America, as well as Ukrainian professionals and volunteers and representatives of international aid organizations. We will bring a carefully selected group of 50 Ukrainians to Lithuania, most of them persons who are actively working with veterans in the country. In addition to the approximately 20 speakers, we will invite several dozen experts to attend the conference and subsequently participate in the working groups on May 22. On May 23 the Ukrainian delegates will be offered a one-day seminar on substance abuse issues among military and veterans, and on self-support and resilience. The goal of the conference is to provide an overview of state-of-the-art rehabilitation programs and initiatives, explore avenues of collaboration and coordination, and garner support for this crucial long-term effort to help Ukraine deal with the disastrous consequences of this war.
Unless a consecutive chain of services is developed that involves all parties, but also all stakeholders, Ukraine will be facing a very dark period, even after winning this war. In order to be able to deal with the future tsunami of persons seeking help, several preconditions will have to be met:
All three targets are the focus of the “Veteran Mental Health Center of Excellence (VMHCE)” a joint initiative of FGIP, King’s College in London and the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. This Center will have, in addition to research and training capabilities, a clinical base that will provide both specialized veteran mental health services and on the job training. An international scientific advisory council will oversee the quality of services rendered.
The outcomes of the conference will contribute to the work of this VCMHE, and to the development of state-of-the art and sustainable veteran mental health services in Ukraine. The conference will also form the basis for the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Ukrainian Psychiatric Association that will be held in Kyiv on October 10-11, 2024, which is organized together with FGIP and the VMHCE and where veteran mental health will be one of the main topics of the conference.
The Andrei Sakharov Research Center contributes to the development of a pluralist and democratic society in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
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Andrei Sakharov Research Center
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