Ukrainian Children's Health and Wellbeing during War: Research to Guide Policy

This is an in-person event for current U-M students. Light lunch will be provided. This event will not be livestreamed.

During this seminar session, students will learn about recent research examining the health impacts of war on Ukraine’s children.

Research based on the World Mental Health Survey Initiative demonstrates that civilians exposed to armed conflict as young children experience significant mental disorders years, and sometimes decades, later. Identifying specific mechanisms that tie these childhood experiences to long-term health problems is fundamental to designing appropriate interventions and responsive policies.

A team of research scientists from Ukraine’s Rating Group and the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center are collecting data to identify wartime experiences that are likely to produce long-term consequences for Ukrainian children’s wellbeing. During this seminar session, Tetiana Skrypchenko (Deputy Director, the Rating Group) will describe some of her organization’s work to conduct surveys—sponsored by UNICEF and other donors—to inform the design of programs that aid families and children. Stephanie Chardoul (Director of Survey Research Operations, University of Michigan) will describe the pilot work done to launch the Rating Group-University of Michigan research collaboration. This collaboration features a new longitudinal survey project focused on children's health among displaced Ukrainian families. Bill Axinn (Interim Director, International Policy Center) will moderate a Question & Answer (Q&A) session with students. The speakers welcome any input on future directions of this research during the Q&A.

Tetiana Skrypchenko, Deputy Director, The Rating Group, Ukraine

Shrypchenko is Deputy Director and Head of the Analytical Department of Experimental Research at the Ukrainian independent research institution Rating Group. She has managed over 35 research projects across various levels, including combining surveys in Ukraine and among Ukrainian refugees abroad since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. She designs comprehensive research plans, leads and mentors research teams, and conducts data analyses using advanced statistical techniques. Her most relevant recent work includes research identifying barriers to accessing routine vaccination services among parents; the study of the problems of Ukrainian children in conditions of war; the survey of mine safety behavior practices among parents and children; and an MHPSS survey of Ukrainian adults, parents, adolescents for UNICEF.

Stephanie Chardoul, Director, Survey Research Operations (SRO), Survey Research Center (SRC), The University of Michigan

Chardoul has 30+ years of experience in survey research operations and methods, including the design and conduct of large-scale complex surveys, managing direct data collection. She directs the World Health Organization’s Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) Training and Reference Centre. Her research experience and interests include survey research methodology, mixed-method data collection, international data collection including cross-cultural comparative methods, and mental health related research. In her role as SRO Director, she is responsible for the design of and data collection for multiple projects spanning various disciplines and substantive areas. SRO develops and maintains processes and systems to ensure excellent quality and service to each project, employing best practices in survey methodology. She also leads the international research programs of the SRC.

William Axinn, Interim Director, International Policy Center, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan

Axinn is a sociologist and demographer who implements studies of families to investigate the links between population processes and health and well-being. Axinn directs the Chitwan Valley Family Study (CVFS), a 30-year longitudinal comprehensive study of individuals, households, and communities in Nepal. For this recent collaboration in Ukraine, he draws on his work following CVFS families through the time of Nepal’s 8-year armed conflict and its long-term impact on family dynamics, child health, mental health, attitudes and beliefs, and migration, education, community change.

This event is co-sponsored with the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR) and Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies (CREES).

Faculty Expert

William Axinn

Professor of Sociology and Professor of Public Policy (by courtesy)

• Ukraine
• William Axinn
• Tetiana Skrypchenko
• Stephanie Chardoul
• global health