Psychological aspects of military rehabilitation: overview of the Recover together seminar

A two-day seminar Recover together was held in Kyiv as part of the educational programme of the Victor Pinchuk and Olena Pinchuk national project RECOVERY. More than 150 participants and 30 top speakers from Ukraine, Israel, Germany and the United States gathered for a professional discussion on the psychological aspects of multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams and their interaction with military personnel.

Vasyl Strilka, Head of the Directorate of High-Tech Medical Care and Innovations at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine; Kseniya Voznitsyna, Director of the State Institution “Centre for Mental Health and Rehabilitation of Veterans “Lisova Polyana” at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine; Yulia (Taira) Payevska, paramedic, volunteer, Armed Forces of Ukraine; Imke Hansen, PhD, trauma therapist (Germany) shared their practical experience with colleagues. 

The importance of psychological support for the military during rehabilitation cannot be overestimated. By finding a common language with these patients, a multidisciplinary team helps wounded heroes better understand and manage their emotions and find ways to overcome their trauma. This support helps improve social adaptation and the overall quality of life of Ukraine’s defenders.

Nevertheless, in developing the rehabilitation industry during martial law, the event’s experts stressed the importance of psychological support not only for patients, but also for their relatives and medical professionals. 

“We all need to become psychologists. And such events can be useful: after all, when they return home from here, rehabilitation specialists will disseminate the information they have received from their colleagues. In this case, both the military and civilians will become more aware. And we, as a society, will become much stronger. Today, I have a very high level of trust in the speakers on stage – everyone shares their own experience of working during the war in which we found ourselves together,” says Liliya Degtyaryova, Recover Together speaker, practical psychologist at the Mechnikov Dnipro Regional Hospital.   

The educational component is one of the priorities of the national network of RECOVERY rehabilitation centres. The project involves the development of a professional community, which is why it is holding an educational event for the fifth time, enabling professionals to acquire new knowledge and share experiences. 

“Training is a very important area of the RECOVERY project. We constantly hold seminars, improve the qualifications of doctors not only from Recovery centres but also from other hospitals, and invite the best domestic and foreign specialists. Today, more than 100 medical professionals from all over the country have gathered here.  We are not only building a network of rehabilitation centres in different regions of Ukraine, but also organising doctors as a community, they communicate with each other and share their experience,” said Victor Pinchuk, founder of the RECOVERY project, businessman and philanthropist. “The psychological aspect is an important component of rehabilitation today, and unfortunately, it will be even more important tomorrow, as millions of patients will appear, because everyone, even those who are not on the front line, will need psychological rehabilitation. That is why we hold such educational seminars,” he added.

Through educational activities, the project pays special attention to the psychological aspects of medical professionals’ interaction with the military and their families to ensure that the time spent at the rehabilitation centre is beneficial not only physically but also psychologically. To date, more than 300 doctors have already taken part in various events aimed at improving their skills. 

All reports of the speakers of the Recover Together event will soon be published on the official RECOVERY YouTube page.  

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