Training of volunteers in the field of mental health care (experience in sociological evaluation of the effectiveness of activities under the 'Soul health’ social project)

The topic of mental health in the conditions of modern society is becoming more and more urgent due to constant social changes, active migration processes, strict requirements to educational and professional activities of a personality, spread of unhealthy lifestyle among the population. Most mental disorders of personality are based on spiritual diseases, so it is the Church that pays increased attention to the spiritual, mental and body components of personality. Volunteers help to cope with mental illness and maintain peace of mind. After all, the development of volunteer work as a voluntary form of social service, aimed at providing free assistance to people, associated with the adoption of Christianity in Russia. The ‘Soul health social project: training Orthodox volunteers in the field of mental health care’ won the international grant competition ‘Orthodox Initiative 2018-2019’. A working group of the sociological laboratory of Smolensk State University organized and conducted a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of the project activities in the training of Orthodox volunteers. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods of sociology: questionnaires, expert evaluation method, in-depth interview method. Four types of tools were developed to measure the effectiveness of activities in achieving the project goal. The sociological assessment made it possible to determine the effectiveness and prospects of the project activities for the development of confessional-oriented volunteer activities in the field of mental health care.