Latvian RC, together with 28 other national societies of the Red Cross, have been working together for more than a year to help Ukrainian civilians in their countries, strengthening their psychological health and, therefore, the quality of life.
In the project “EU4Health – provision of quality and timely psychological first aid to people affected by Ukraine crisis in Ukraine and impacted countries”” in 2023, a lot has been accomplished.
During training “Art therapy for war refugees” 11 psychologists from all over Latvia learned valuable knowledge on how to provide support to those who have suffered psychologically and inspire them to overcome difficulties by using one of the most beautiful languages – art. As part of these trainings, methodological material on the implementation of art therapy has been created, which can be useful to anyone who works with people from war zones.
3 LatRC representatives went to Budapest in June, together with colleagues from other countries, to obtain the right to conduct psychological first aid training (PFA), soon after LatRC officially received an adult non-formal education license to conduct training.
More than 300 people from Daugavpils, Liepaja, Riga, Rezekne, Palsmane, Smiltene, Saldus, Valmiera and Valka participated in 17 trainings on PFA.
In the project, LatRC supports not only the Ukrainian target group, but also strengthens its own and its partners’ ability to care for the well-being of aid providers by offering them supervision, which is a consultative support in terms of duties. Support groups for Ukrainian women in Vidzeme and Latgale continued from September to December.
After listening to the opinions of more than 400 Ukrainians about their mental health and the psychosocial support they received, LatRC created a needs-based report that will help to implement multifaceted and data-based support activities and services in the future.