FRID: Supporting Refugee Mental Health Through Peer-Led Innovation

Many Ukrainian refugees across Europe continue to carry heavy emotional burdens. In a recent survey conducted in Gothenburg, Sweden, half of the Ukrainian respondents reported feeling lonely, while 70% shared that they live with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Yet despite these deep and pressing needs, access to mental health support remains painfully limited, hindered by language, culture, and systemic gaps.

The FRID project was born out of care, collaboration, and a shared commitment to change.

At the heart of the project is the adaptation of MIELI’s TOIVO model, a peer-led mental health approach that has already brought hope and enhanced participation among migrant communities in Finland under MIOS project that was conducted between 2018 and 2020. Through transnational collaboration, expert guidance, and participatory design, we are now shaping this model to fit the Swedish context.

FRID is built on a simple but powerful idea.
By embracing a “build-measure-learn” mindset, we ensure that the project grows through feedback from the very people it serves. Every insight is a step forward, helping us create something not only effective, but meaningful and sustainable. 

As FRID moves forward, it will share its learnings widely, offering guidance and inspiration to others working at the intersection of mental health and refugee support. A cross-border learning circle between Sweden and Finland will help ensure this work lives on through continued collaboration and innovation.

The 18 month project will last until 2026, October and is led by Reach for Change and conducted by Help Ukraine Gothenburg (HUG) and MIELI Mental Health Finland (MIELI) with the support from the European Competence Centre for Social Innovation.

Activities

Since FRID project’s kick-off in May 2025 the project has organized an intensive learning exchange and training session where MIELI Mental Health Finland’s expert visited Gothenburg and delievered a training on the TOIVO-model. During the visit project workers together with active members of the HUG team had the chance to plan next steps. The project has organized online Learning Circles bringing together NGO workers from Finland and Sweden over volunteer coordination, youth mental health, mental health for seniors, low-threshold mental health support, etc.

HUG team in Gothenburg has succesfully delivered volunteer trainings and piloted more than 10 TOIVO-groups. TOIVO-groups have been developped in a cultural sensitive approach and peersupport model has provided Ukrainian refugees in and around Gothenburg tools to foster their mental wellbeing in a safer environment. Under FRID project Power Journals have been translated into Swedish and Ukrainian and Finnish as well as English versions have also been updated to match the new look.

The project’s final seminar will be organized in Gothenburg, in September 2026.

For further information on the project contact: melis.ari(at)mieli.fi

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Social Fund Agency. Neither the European Union nor the Granting Authority can be held responsible for them.