Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, our team of researchers from the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy and Yale University, have continued our work on the study PROST (Peer-Run Online Support for Treatment) with older people with HIV (OPWH) in Kyiv. We learned that the majority of OPWH did not evacuate during the war, and many reside alone. While HIV clinics have been able to continue providing care through heroic efforts of staff, the biggest unmet need for OPWH concerns mental health, including suicidal ideation, and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. The AIDS Center, Sociotherapy clinic, and Kyiv City have launched a mental health hotline where patients may get essential first aid. But the need for support exceeds the hotline capability, as OPWH need more substantive psychological counseling. Furthermore, the hotline service has been provided by psychologists on unpaid volunteer basis for the first three months of the war as an act of outstanding solidarity and goodwill. Support from the international community may help to alleviate the mental health burdens on people living with HIV and of the psychologists who care for them, at this difficult time.

Our team has launched a program “Kind Call” where our OPWH study participants who have significant anxiety or depression symptoms and/or request support are offered free of charge psychological counseling by the clinical psychologists we collaborate with in Ukraine during the war. We work with three clinical psychologists (Nataliia Radych, Nataliia Kniazeva, and Tetiana Orlova) and reimburse them for their time $40 USD for a series of 5 30-minute sessions.

If you are looking for a way to help achieve a more peaceful, kinder world at this difficult time, a donation of $40 USD will go a long way towards giving the peace of mind not only to a vulnerable OPWH in Ukraine, but also to a clinical psychologist (who are women with children) caring for this older adult.

Bank details for receipt of funds as charitable contributions

For USD transfers

Intermediary: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, New York, USA

SWIFT: IRVTUS3N

Beneficiary’s bank: JSC KREDOBANK Lviv, Ukraine

SWIFT: WUCBUA2X

Beneficiary Name: UIPHP

IBAN: UA473253650000002600601852381

Payment purpose: Charitable donation. For Project PROST