Fighting and Movement Restrictions hamper access to Health services and Psychological Support

Valentina, originally from Central Ukraine, has worked as a medical doctor in Popasna since 1983. She only once left the place, when the shelling was heavily hitting the town day and night, killing many. Yet, after two weeks away she went back to Popasna. People there, as well as her colleagues, needed her support.

“Work in the Emergency Department was morally hard, as we haven’t faced this kind of issue before. We did have some emergency responses to car accidents and similar situations, but to see headless people lying on the ground after a shelling is just terrifying,” said Valentina. The military activities are still ongoing, injuring many and taking the lives of civilians living along the Contact Line. This is compounded by the fact that the residents of Popasna, since the separation between the government and non-government controlled areas, have lost access to their service center (including healthcare), leaving the city of Luhansk now under the control of the de-facto authorities.

The separation of the territory disrupted family links. Many of them are now split between the government and non-government controlled areas, with daylong trips needed to only pay a visit to a child or grandparent. This, together with the distress resulting from the ongoing fighting and the difficulties in accessing the most basic services, keep heavily affecting the mental health of the population. Health workers are themselves suffering psychological trauma and are at risk of professional burnout. They are dealing with affected people but are also themselves living in such a complex situation. And last but not least, health practitioners have faced serious obstacles in accessing training since the beginning of the conflict. This is because the training centers are located on the other side of the Contact Line, except for ones now provided by international organizations.

“It is a normal practice now that health workers are seeking psychological support. Psychologists from Action Against Hunger provide Mental Health counselling and trainings for our Medical Center’s staff as well. During our fieldwork, we often have to calm people down when they are emotionally unstable. In order to manage it, we need to be well prepared, this is also our professional responsibility. Different people have different emotional reactions. The war has negatively affected most of the people. Some may become hysterical. Some irritated, short tempered. And they are our patients and we are dealing with them every day,” said Valentina. 

Regional Emergency Medical Center’s stuff and most vulnerable local residents of Popasna are supported by the team of Action Against Hunger psychologists, providing psycho-social support and trainings for medical workers in the framework of ACCESS consortium (People in Need, Action Contre La Faim, Médecins du Monde and ACTED in partnership with IMPACT Initiatives) project and funded by the EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department (ECHO).