When Veterans Return Home: Between the Clinic and Everyday Life
In Ukraine, the system of rehabilitation for veterans is developing rapidly. Yet a significant gap remains between the end of clinical treatment and everyday life at home, within the family and in the local community. This particularly affects people with physical and sensory disabilities — those who have undergone amputations or experienced partial or complete loss of sight or hearing, often alongside chronic pain, war-related trauma and PTSD.
The project “Building Systemic Support for Veterans with Physical and Sensory Disabilities and Their Families” creates a coherent pathway of assistance: from medical rehabilitation, through the adaptation stage, to long-term psychosocial and family support. The veteran remains at the centre of the process, but the model also involves their loved ones, medical professionals and the institutions responsible for rehabilitation.
Support Reaches Those Who Need It
Mobile interdisciplinary teams operate in the Kyiv and Odesa regions. They bring together doctors, psychologists, case managers and veteran mentors. The teams reach local communities, assess the situation of individual families, provide crisis interventions, consultations and ongoing monitoring, and help plan the next stages of support.
This mechanism has particular practical importance outside the largest cities. Even in regions with well-developed medical infrastructure, access to specialist services remains uneven. A mobile team shortens the distance between a person in need and the appropriate form of assistance. It also helps identify veterans with physical and sensory disabilities who require more intensive rehabilitation or support during the adaptation process.
After Leaving the Clinic
Returning home is one of the most difficult stages. In a medical facility, the patient functions within a structured environment, has access to specialists and follows a clearly defined rehabilitation plan. At home, everyday life is less predictable. A person must relearn how to move around, organise ordinary tasks, regulate emotions and rebuild relationships.
The project includes three seven-day rehabilitation and adaptation programmes for 21 veterans who have lost their sight and their 21 female partners. Two programmes are designed for people with partial sight loss, while one is intended for veterans who are completely blind. The programme combines individual and group therapy, independent living skills, spatial orientation, emotional regulation and support for couple relationships.
The participation of partners reflects the reality of the rehabilitation process. Families assume much of the responsibility for everyday adaptation, often without preparation or support of their own. The project treats loved ones as participants in rehabilitation rather than as the patient’s invisible support system.
Experience That Helps Rebuild Trust
Peer support is an essential part of the model. The mentors are veterans who have themselves gone through injury and rehabilitation and have had to rebuild their independence. Their role differs from that of a doctor or psychologist. They bring lived experience that can help overcome isolation and resistance to receiving support.
A conversation with someone who has experienced a similar injury may focus on very practical issues: mobility, relationships with loved ones, feelings of dependence or the loss of a previous social role. Peer support complements professional therapy and strengthens it in areas where clinical knowledge alone may not be enough.
From a Pilot Programme to an Institutional Standard
The project goes beyond providing direct assistance to participants. Experts develop and test a methodology for individual and group work with veterans with physical and sensory disabilities and their families. The model includes case management, psychological support, independent living skills, communication, emotional regulation and peer mentoring.
The programme is incorporated into the practice of the Institute of Traumatology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. This allows the experience gained through the pilot to inform an institutional solution that specialists can continue to use after the project ends.
Equipment and Expertise Remain Within the System
At the same time, the project strengthens the rehabilitation capacity of the Multidisciplinary Veterans’ Hospital in Odesa. The rehabilitation department receives specialist equipment for physical rehabilitation and laser therapy, while staff are trained in its use and in integrating the devices into individual treatment plans.
The HumanDoc Foundation implements the project together with ReabiCentr, the Mariupol Women’s Association “Berehynia”, the Association of Rehabilitation Management and the Institute of Traumatology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. The partners combine clinical, scientific, community-based and organisational expertise.
The project tests a model that brings together elements which have often operated separately: medical rehabilitation, psychological assistance, family support, community-based work and veteran mentoring. The methodology, specialist expertise and equipment remain within Ukrainian institutions, while the solution developed through the project can be expanded and implemented on a larger scale in other regions of the country.