We are proud to announce that our article, “Supporting the Mental Health of Ukrainians in Sweden Affected by Forced Transnationality Due to Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion,” has been published in Tidsskrift for psykisk helsearbeid, a Norwegian academic and professional journal.
Drawing on the insights from HUG’s Better You&Me project, the article explores forced transnationality – the ongoing cross-border relationships, responsibilities, and decisions that people must navigate after being forced to leave their homes.
Russia’s full-scale invasion has drastically changed family lives of millions of Ukrainians: some people remain separated across borders, others have reunited, and some relationships have been collapsed by distance and uncertainty.
Many people who have settled in Sweden remain deeply involved in the lives of relatives and communities in Ukraine. They follow rapidly changing events, stay in daily contact, provide practical support and care, and make important family decisions from afar. These cross-border responsibilities have become part of everyday life, alongside work, studies, parenting, and building a future in a new country.
Forced transnationality takes many forms, raising children in Sweden while a partner remains in Ukraine, caring for older relatives from afar, or trying to sustain a relationship through prolonged separation; and its impact reaches far beyond practical arrangements. Each situation carries its own emotional strain, which, alongside integration pressures, can intensify anxiety, exhaustion, and depressive states.
In Better You&Me, support is delivered in the native language and shaped around calm, predictable settings. Participants can meet individually, join a group, or take part through drawing, listening and simply being present.
A family-sensitive approach starts with the story people bring with them and the pressure they carry. In individual conversations, participants can make sense of how separation has changed family roles, relationships and expectations for the future, and develop new strategies for supporting themselves. In group settings, they can share experiences and rebuild a sense of belonging.
For mental health professionals and community organisations, a family-focused understanding of displacement is essential. It helps create support that responds to people’s individual and collective needs, while recognising the cultural and national contexts that shape their experiences.
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