Peace of Mind & Strength of Heart
The project aims to strengthen the mental health and well-being of refugees and displaced persons, with a particular focus on people from Ukraine!
EU-funded project
EU4 Health – 2022 programme 101101437 EU4H – 2022 – PJ – 09
About the project
The escalation of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 resulted in the largest wave of migration in Europe since World War II. Millions of Ukrainians have fled their homes, most of them women and children. War experiences and resettlements left permanent traces in the psyche in the form of fears, anger, loss of hope, depression, sleep problems or PTSD. Not everyone will be able to overcome the mental, emotional, or physical effects with their own resilience stores. There are people who will need support to strengthen their coping mechanisms. That’s why this project was created.
The project aims to develop and implement a widely accessible, innovative, measurable and research-based approach to strengthening the mental health and well-being of refugees and displaced persons in Europe (with a particular focus on people from Ukraine). It includes strengthening psychosocial well-being and strengthening the executive functions of providers and mental health professionals, as well as building new capacity.
Objectives of the project:
- Strengthening the mental health and psychosocial well-being of 16,000 refugees and displaced persons – children and adults (with a special focus on people from Ukraine).
- Strengthening the psychosocial well-being and capacity of 700 service providers and mental health professionals working with refugees and displaced persons in Europe (with a focus on Russian/Ukrainian specialists).
- Increase the capacity of service providers and displaced persons to deploy on a wider scale in Europe by training 50 new HRE facilitators across Europe, including Ukrainian and Russian speakers.
The consortium of the Peace of Mind and Strength of Heart project during the Krakow meeting in December 2022.
with Dr. Katrien Hertog about the Peace of Mind and Strength of Heart
project , which aims to help Ukrainians regain their mental peace and find the strength to live despite the trauma of war.
A 3-day meeting of the project consortium prepared by the Horn Krakow Sailing Club. The meeting was attended by a representative of the European Commission, responsible for the implementation of the project.
Presentation of the project to representatives of international and local organizations working with refugees, networking meeting.
How do we want to help refugees? So a little bit about the HRE workshops…
HRE Workshop – is a workshop with a low threshold level dealing with the psychosocial consequences of conflict and violence, relieving acute and basic stress and anxiety, improving sleep and bringing relief. HRE workshops are a basic IAHV intervention program that can reach a large number of people while providing great personal benefits. The workshops are based on numerous studies and can also be applied to different cultures. They have an immediate, positive effect and equip participants with techniques that they can continue on their own to improve their self-esteem.
Project Partners
The Understanding Foundation is a partner in this project, we are implementing it in cooperation with:
