In October, the team from Healthy Initiatives was invited to participate in a week-long intensive training in New York, organized by the Northwell Health Center for Traumatic Stress, Resilience, and Recovery. The event was initiated by the Northwell Center for Global Health, a partner of Healthy Initiatives in developing and launching a program to combat burnout among Ukrainian healthcare providers and co-founder of the Mental Health Impact Consortium.
The Stress First Aid program, originally developed by Northwell experts for the U.S. Army, is a peer support approach to managing stress. The goal of the training was to equip the Healthy Initiatives team with the necessary skills and knowledge to launch a comprehensive stress management and peer support program in Ukraine using this model.
During the training, participants engaged in a series of meetings, consultations, educational sessions, and workshops aimed at integrating the Stress First Aid framework into the current realities of Ukraine. Northwell colleagues provided an overview of the core components and competencies of the program, introduced the model, and explained how to implement the peer process to recognize stress levels, determine when action is needed to reduce stress, and identify helpful resources.
