In 2025, FHI 360 was commissioned by Czech non-profit People in Need (PIN) to study the potential linkages between mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and Ukraine’s future economic recovery. As part of this study, FHI 360 developed an economic simulation model to better understand the impact of MHPSS on productivity, modeling estimated economic benefits versus the costs of PIN’s MPHSS programming.
People in Need (PIN), active in Ukraine since 2003, expanded its mission after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion to provide emergency humanitarian aid and psychosocial support (PSS) to war-affected populations. Since 2014, PIN has supported Ukraine with humanitarian assistance, expanding our efforts after the full-scale invasion — especially through its core MHPSS program, launched in 2015 with mobile teams and a hotline. From the beginning of the 2022 full-scale invasion, PIN has responded to rising psychosocial needs in Ukraine by delivering MHPSS services to over 90,000 people and enabling local partners to support 40,000 more.
FHI 360 developed a simulation model to estimate the impact of MHPSS on economic productivity by integrating PIN’s data with international studies on mental health and workplace effects, adapting findings to Ukraine’s context. Three model versions — ranging from conservative to a more extrapolated expert opinion version — demonstrate estimated benefit-cost ratios to inform evidence-based decision making and resource allocation for mental health support, in combination with other urgent needs such as infrastructure.