Evaluation of the Emergency Response Mental Health Support Program for Ukrainian Refugee Families in Poland

The Russian aggression on Ukraine of February 24, 2022 caused the massive influx of war refugees, mainly mothers and children, to Poland. One of the initiatives to support their mental health was undertaken in a frame of the agreement between UNICEF and the Ministry of Health.

This study aimed to evaluate the emergency response mental health support program on Ukrainian refugee parents' resilience, mental health and competencies to enhance children's wellbeing in the face of adversity.

The project was organized in accordance with the EDPQS model. The intervention was based on the needs and resources assessment and designed in cooperation with Ukrainian specialists. It consists of 10, 2 hr sessions implemented onsite by trained Ukrainian trainers with a group of 10 to 15 parents. The outcomes were assessed using a pretest-posttest design, with comparisons made across groups participating in the program at different but overlapping periods (n = 630). The anonymous questionnaire covered the key components of the program: health (HRQL-14), wellbeing (WHO-5), coping with stress (BRIEF-COPE), resilience (CD-RISC), post-traumatic growth (PTGI), and parenting practices (PRS).

Significant positive changes were observed in wellbeing (OR = 9.2), mental and physical health (OR = 3.7 and OR = 8.8), resilience (η² = 0.10), post-traumatic growth in terms of positive self-perception (η² = 0.13), positive perception of others (η² = 0.11), and perception of new opportunities (η² = 0.11). Increase in use of constructive coping strategies and parenting practices based on child's acceptance, as well as, decrease in excessive protection, excessive demands and inconsistency in parenting were significant, too although the effect sizes were moderate.

Presented evidence suggests the Add Strengths program usefulness for emergent mental health support of parents affected by war. However, several factors should be taken into account when interpreting this results, including the temporality and specificity of the psychological needs of the target population, the role of trainers and methodological constraints.