[MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT BEYOND BOUNDARIES - MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR THE EVACUATED POPULATION DURING THE "IRON SWORD" WAR].

Abstract

Introduction: The terrorist attack by Hamas and other organizations on October 7th, 2023 surprised the State of Israel. The Western Negev region, where most of the damage occurred, is a conflict zone. In view of this fact, emergency plans were prepared, including for the response in the field of mental health. These plans included the provision of emotional support and mental health services by the regional resilience centers. Several factors led to the fact that the resilience centers were not able to provide full service to the evacuated population. In general, mental health services in the State of Israel on the eve of October 7th were significantly lacking and in non-optimal availability. The events of October 7th created a new reality in which it was no longer possible to rely on the resilience centers, which were also damaged by the events. Actually, tens of thousands of people were evacuated to widespread areas, requiring emergency preparedness by the Ministry of Health. On October 13th, 2023, the mental health medical centers were requested to respond to this need in a spatial distribution for 4 weeks until the recovery of the resilience centers or the response by the health funds ("Kupot Holim").