This article briefly describes three tools that may be used by personnel working in contact with displaced Ukrainian people within Mental Health and Psychosocial Support settings.
Rapid MHPSS Assessment Tool for Ukraine and Affected Countries. (1)
This tool published by IFRC Psychosocial Support Centre consists of prompts and questions that can help organize relevant data in a manner in which it can be used to select or design interventions that would be beneficial to the displaced community. The tool is organized into four sections: 1) General information about the host community & institutional services, 2) General information about the displaced community, 3) General information about the informants/focus group and 4) Questions. The questions largely cover characteristics of the host and displaced community, potential targets for intervention, challenges being faced by specific subgroups, and available resources. The nature of the questions makes the tool a useful starting point to collect qualitative data either through semi structured interviews or focus groups. The tool can be accessed at this link.
Mental Health Assessment Inventory (2)
The tool was developed with Internally Displaced Persons within Ukraine. It covers items pertinent to depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress and alcohol use problems. The items were derived based on existing scales for these conditions which were adapted for use in the present context and previous qualitative findings based on research carried out by the authors within the population of internally displaced Ukrainian population.The items were translated into Russian and Ukrainian to suit the languages spoken in the regions where the tool was tested. The tool consists of self-report items with Likert scale responses and can be administered verbally by trained personnel.. The tool was validated against the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-Research Version (SCID-IV-RV, 2010 revision). The details of the tool construction, reliability and validity testing are detailed in this paper. The items for the scale are available here under Appendix A of the paper. The tool is available in Russian and the author can be contacted to access the tool.
Potential Use of Psychopharmacotherapy to address Mental Health Conditions among Populations Affected by the Russian War (3)
There is evidence to support the use of psychoactive substances along with psychotherapy also described as Psychedelic- Assisted Therapy (PAT). This paper details the existing evidence base for PAT and the implications of socio-political contexts on PAT. Further within the results section it describes a proposed treatment protocol for PAT which suggests including 1-3 typical psychotherapy sessions, at least one experiential session, which is then followed by 1-3 typical psychotherapy sessions. It is further suggested that the typical sessions follow a CBT like approach and a non-directive approach in the experiential session. While largely based on theoretical principle, this article outlines a proposed method of incorporating PTSD especially when mental health difficulties are exacerbated as a result of exposure to adverse events during war and making it possible. A detailed description of the same can be found here in Russian and English.
References
- https://app.mhpss.net/resource/rapid-mhpss-assessment-tool-for-ukraine-and-affected-countries
- Doty SB, Haroz EE, Singh NS, Bogdanov S, Bass JK, Murray LK, et al. Adaptation and testing of an assessment for mental health and alcohol use problems among conflict-affected adults in Ukraine. Conflict and Health. 2018 Aug 15;12(1).
- Orlov OV. Justification of the possibility of using psychopharmacotherapy to overcome the negative impact of the Russian war on the population’s mental health. Insight: the psychological dimensions of society [Internet]. 2022 Jul 13 [cited 2023 Jan 13];(7):103–17. Available from: http://www.insight.journal.kspu.edu/index.php/insight/article/view/100/79
