Today, the EIPHP experts presented the results of the study “Mental Health among the Key Populations: The Needs and Availability of Relevant Services in the Wartime Ukraine” conducted in partnership with the Alliance for Public Health.
The primary goal of the study was to identify the main ways and mechanisms of engaging Key Populations – people who inject drugs, sex workers, men who have sex with men, and trans people – in receiving mental health services.
The data presented by the experts were obtained through 105 in-depth interviews with representatives of each key population, HIV service NGO professionals, family doctors, and providers of specialized services (such as psychologists, psychotherapists, and psychiatrists), as well as through desk review.
Summing up the results, the experts specified two service delivery models that can be considered the most realistic and suitable for today’s requirements, the simultaneous application of which allows scaling up access to mental health services for representatives of key populations during the war and the post-war transitional period:
- Model with an initial visit to a family doctor
- NGO entry point model
Based on the analysis of the data obtained during the study, the experts developed recommendations to optimize service delivery and improve collaboration between community members, HIV service organizations, and mental health service providers to expand access for key population representatives.
