The Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine is working to change approaches to providing psychological assistance to defenders, and intends to create a new effective system of psychological rehabilitation.
Minister of Veterans Affairs Yuliia Laputina stated this during an interview with the socio-religious project of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church “Live Television”.
“We would like to change approaches to psychological assistance to defenders and create a system that will be really effective. We understand that many rehabilitation centers were established in Soviet times, while psychological rehabilitation appeared in Ukraine not so long ago. If we analyze the experience of the United States, then the Ministry of Veterans Affairs has a second budget after the Pentagon, created state-of-the-art medical and psychological rehabilitation centers. On the eve of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's Independence, we were visited by American Ukrainian veterans - ethnic Ukrainians who served in the US Army. They visited the hospital, which currently houses defenders who have just returned from the war and are seriously injured. After that, American veterans noted that in the United States, as soon as a military service member recovers after being wounded, not only a surgeon and anesthesiologist, but also a psychologist works with him. After all, the trauma has already occurred. This is especially true for those who have had amputations,” Yuliia Laputina emphasized.
The Minister for Veterans Affairs stressed that Ukraine should research and implement best practices in providing psychological assistance to defenders.
“Another issue is that many defenders are returning from the war not to regional centers, where there is an extensive system of medical institutions, but to remote areas. There is no psychologist there. And we have to build a system in which emergency psychological care will also work in small towns and villages,” Yuliia Laputina highlighted.
The head of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs has noted that currently every defender of Ukraine can receive free medical and psychological assistance.
“Rehabilitation centers operate in every region of Ukraine, and the Ministry of Veterans has developed programs for sanatorium treatment and psychological rehabilitation, under which defenders can receive free assistance,” Yuliia Laputina stressed. She noted that this year the Ministry of Veterans Affairs managed to ensure that not only the veteran but also members of his family could receive psychological assistance.
“Unfortunately, there is no additional funding for this, but we hope that next year the situation will change. Adjective rehabilitation is usually better when the course is taken by the family together,” said the Minister of Veterans Affairs.
Yuliia Laputina also expressed the opinion that all institutions and foreign partners should unite in improving the quality of assistance to the defenders of Ukraine.