СУЧАСНИЙ СТАН ДИТЯЧОЇ ПСИХІАТРІЇ В УКРАЇНІ: ОСВІТА ТА ПРАКТИКА

Abstract

The article discusses the challenges that Ukrainian paediatric mental health services faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the full-scale invasion of military forces to Ukraine. The features of the psychiatric service organization, such as the concentration of these services in large cities exacerbated by the staff shortages, lowlevel telehealth facilities development, and lack of mental health education on the community level that were exacerbated by stigma in the society negatively affected the access to specialized child mental health services during the pandemic. The situation significantly worsened due to war, that was related to the unprecedented rate of violence toward the civil population, destruction of critical infrastructure, lack of access to medication, and evacuation of medical personnel that in turn resulted in a crisis in Ukrainian child and adolescent psychiatry To address these challenges, a recent paper highlight the need for systemic reforms and collaboration among experts in the field of child healthcare, medical education, social services, and government agencies. The author recommends creating a comprehensive training program for child psychiatrists and incorporating child psychiatry into the postgraduate training of medical professionals, providing training in child psychiatry for pediatricians and family doctors and promoting digital services. Furthermore, the authors propose deinstitutionalization for child psychiatric services and their movement to multidisciplinary childcare facilities with the developing of community- based forms of psychiatric and psychological care for children to ensure better access to mental healthcare services and their destigmatization.