This Policy Brief summarizes findings from the Better You&Me project, conducted within the non-governmental organization (NGO) Help Ukraine Gothenburg (HUG) between 2023 and 2025. The main aim of the project is to support the mental health and integration of displaced Ukrainians in Sweden. The findings suggest that mental health and integration are closely interconnected, and that comprehensive and culturally sensitive long-term support plays an important role in strengthening both.

Some overall conclusions and recommendations:

  • Swedish state institutions in direct contact with displaced communities are encouraged to build partnerships with NGOs, thereby expanding service outreach and improving responses to the needs of displaced communities. They are also encouraged to organize public awareness campaigns for displaced communities focused on mental health.
  • Mental health support should be incorporated into education and integration programmes for Ukrainian TPD holders and other displaced populations.
  • Trauma-sensitive screening should be introduced at early contact points, such as language schools, employment services, and social support centres, and frontline professionals should be equipped with comprehensive, hands-on training.
  • Swedish and EU decision-makers should acknowledge that as TPD offers short-term status without a clear path to permanence, for many Ukrainians it can cause uncertainty that worsens mental health and disrupts integration. The legal frameworks should therefore support long-term inclusion of vulnerable groups.

About the authors

This Policy Brief was initiated by the NGO Help Ukraine Gothenburg (HUG). The authors of this Policy Brief, Viktoriia Svidovska (PhD in Pedagogical Sciences) and Yaroslava Shven (PhD in Psychology), are both involved in the Better You&Me project by HUG and have extensive backgrounds within psychology. Svidovska is currently a researcher and mental health coach, and Shven is a team leader for mental health coaches and methodologist at HUG since 2023.

Photo by: https://unsplash.com/@miracleday 

This policy brief was published the 19th of june 2025.