The AWWA board member Margaret Kiladjian expressed a desire to get acquainted with an organization that, being the only one of its kind in Armenia, was able to create a service in a very short period of time that was needed in the country. It is the Association of Healthcare and Assistance to Older People. During the previous meeting, Hambardzum Simonyan, the head of the FAR health programs, also recommended to get acquainted with that structure and create stable foundations for mutual cooperation.
Thus, on June 30, Margaret Kiladjian and Gohar Hovhannisyan visited the office of the Association for Healthcare and Assistance to Older People to get acquainted with the team and their work and programs. The guests were welcomed by the founder-president of the Association Artur Torosyan and coordinator Lilit Muradyan. They kindly organized a small tour of the spacious facility and presented their plans in detail. In general, the office consists of two parts: social and medical, they have different entrances, however, mutually complement each other. The day care center is located in the social part, where a pleasant surprise awaited the visitors. Mrs. Astghik, who is one of the beneficiaries of the Day Care Center, did not manage to leave with the beneficiaries of her group and continued her training alone in the office. Being one of the first beneficiaries of the Center, she personally told about all the trainings and activities that the Day Care Center organizes for them.
Artur Torosyan mentioned that their mission was to improve the quality of life of the elderly in Armenia and to ensure their dignified, happy and active aging.
With respect to health activities, Artur Torosyan, as the president of the Armenian Association of Geriatrics and Gerontology, said that their goal was to contribute to the development of geriatric and gerontological services in Armenia, the introduction of integrated care for the elderly, as well as the continuous training of professionals working with the elderly (doctors, nurses, caregivers, etc.). In this regard, they discussed also the courses organized for the medical staff of the organization, which will be continuous. The second stage of the courses is already planned for September.
It turned out to be a very interesting meeting. Margaret Kiladjian was impressed by the large-scale of the activities carried out by the association. Particular importance was given to the Geriatric Room project, which is in progress and will turn to a pilot project for later implementation in all polyclinics.