Children with mental disorders who require inpatient care in Ukraine should be treated in regional or city children’s hospitals, rather than in general psychiatric facilities, said Yevhen Gonchar, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Health, in an exclusive interview with the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
According to him, the legislation was amended after cases were uncovered in which children from residential care facilities were referred to psychiatric hospitals—in particular, under the guise of treatment or rehabilitation, or in fact to influence their behavior.
Such cases were documented in reports by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights and law enforcement agencies.
Gonchar emphasized that a psychiatric hospital should not be used as a tool for correcting a child’s behavior.
Adult patients with dementia who have been in psychiatric facilities for a long time, primarily for social rather than medical reasons, remain a separate issue.
Stable patients with dementia who do not require treatment for acute episodes, according to the deputy minister, should receive social care—specifically in supported living facilities or other specialized institutions—rather than permanently occupying beds in psychiatric hospitals.
