Online initiative helps Ukrainians deal with emotional burnout from the war

Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation and UNDP launch “Treating emotional burnout,” an educational series on the Diia.Education platform

July 29, 2022
Photo: shutterstock

Kyiv, 29 July 2022 – The constant bombardments, lack of security, fears for safety and incessant uncertainties of whether one will be alive from one day to the next can cause anxieties, nervousness and intense emotional trauma. Add to this need to care for one’s family while helping neighbours and compatriots in any way possible and the result can drive most people to the brink of a breakdown.

To help Ukrainians to recognize and deal with emotional exhaustion, a new educational series of videos on how to deal with emotional burnout has been launched on the Diia.Education platform. The course was developed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine within the National Programme for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, initiated by the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, with the support of the UNDP Human Rights for Ukraine Project, which is implemented and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and the Digital, Inclusive, Accessible: Support to Digitalisation of Public Services in Ukraine (DIA Support Project), implemented with the financial support of Sweden. This is the second educational course focused on self-care in wartime. It includes 15 videos, each 5-11 minutes long.

Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation and European Integration Valeria Ionan underlined that the project Diia.Digital Education continues supporting Ukrainians during the full-scale war.

“We considered the context of events in the country and responded to the most urgent needs of Ukrainians. That is why, along with digital education we are launching a new educational series of videos on dealing with emotional burnout. This will help citizens to stay psychologically resilient during the war,” she said.

The course will help Ukrainians to:

  • deal with the feeling of guilt;
  • know how to work with psychological fatigue;
  • identify degrees of stress;
  • understand how to cope with feelings of helplessness;
  • know how to take care of one’s health;
  • understand the consequences of working until exhaustion.

Manal Fouani, acting UNDP Resident Representative in Ukraine, said the war has left millions of Ukrainians living in challenging times and uncertainties, juggling between multiple tasks and roles: working full-time jobs, caring for family members and attending their needs, volunteering and helping others in need. “Many of these people are living in constant stress and are at high risk of emotional burnout,” she said. “Self-care and mental health become even more critical in war times. UNDP continues its efforts to work with multiple partners on raising further awareness and engage with the wider war affected communities for better mental health and stability.”

To ensure no one is left behind, the Ministry of Digital Transformation ensures an offline access to the online courses on Diia.Digital Education. People without digital skills or devices with internet access can study at the Digital Education Hubs (DEH), public and community places (libraries, schools, centres of state administrative services, IT-companies, CSO’s offices, even shops) that are registered as hubs and assist people in mastering digital skills. Currently, there are over 6,000 DEHs operating in the country.

UNDP plans to support further development of this DEH network by building up capacities of the hubs. The initiative will be launched next month and will include training programmes for DEHs representatives to make sure they have proper skills and vision to promote the initiative in their local communities.

This video series follows an earlier UNDP-supported series of educational videos, called “Psychological Support for Civilians: How to Help Yourself and Your Loved Ones”, that was launched on the Diia.Education platform. The course includes recommendations from psychologists on how to maintain mental wellbeing in stressful situations. It includes 14 videos, each four to eight minutes long, providing recommendations on how people can help family members and close friends to maintain good mental health during the war.

Media enquiries

Yulia Samus, UNDP Ukraine Communications Lead, yuliia.samus@undp.org