On March 4, the trainings organized for the staff of Hanganak NGO started in the office of the Association of Healthcare and Assistance to Older People. On the eve of the trainings, March 3, the minibus provided to the organization to transport the employees arrived at the FAR office, where the participants were already waiting. They moved the four participants with accommodation problems to a comfortable 3-room apartment. The other 6 participants did not have a residence issue. All participants were very excited about the expectations of the upcoming courses.
The courses started in a very comfortable and modern office. Arthur Torosyan and Lilit Muradyan presented the history and establishment of the Association and the programs implemented by them. At the beginning of the training, participants took a test to determine their perceptions and level of knowledge about geriatrics and gerontology. The same test will be conducted at the end of the course to evaluate the effectiveness of the course.
Lilit Muradyan, being a psychologist, presented the psychological problems faced by the elderly, their origins and modern approaches to the disease. Backed with practical real-life knowledge the participants found very easy to understand the material, classify the problems and give clear names.
The second part of the course was dedicated to geriatric syndromes. The lecturer was Zaruhi Vahanyan, who is one of the founders of geriatrics in Armenia. As geriatrics is a new direction in Armenia, even the terms are completely new. The participants were very active, trying to bring examples from their own experience. It was a very informative and interesting course that aroused great enthusiasm among the participants.
At the end, summarizing the impressions of the day, the participants painted the paper sheets to express their feelings.