AAAS experts improve geriatrics in Armenia

For four days, from April 27 to 30, about 50 Armenian specialists took part in the training on geriatrics provided by two AAAS experts: Vasken Meldonian, General Director of AAAS and former Director of the Armenian residence of Montmorency, and Raffi Garabedian, director of the retirement home l’Églantier in Gonesse, both run by the AAAS.
The training was held in cooperation with AAAS and the EU’s Targeted Initiative for Armenia (TIA) project, with the participation of the Armenian Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The main aim of the initiative was to promote the rights of older people in local retirement homes through improvement of the quality of professional care and rehabilitation services.
Management of care facilities and organization of services, geriatrics and care of the elderly: the training designed around these two main topics involved a fairly broad target group including executives, employees and employees of seven retirement homes (including four public and three private ones), as well as representatives of NGOs active in the field (Mission Armenia, Armenian Caritas, etc.).
The experts in the field presented the approaches in geriatrics and gerontology in France, the mechanisms implemented in French retirement homes to improve the quality of provided services and the well-being of residents. The testimonies of the participants allowed them to also be aware of the current state of affairs in the field in Armenia.
“We are really impressed by the work done in Armenia in the field of geriatrics. We also learn from local specialists. Indeed, the difference lies in our financial means and our possibilities but not in the care services, the attention and the warmth against to the residents, Mr. Meldonian and Mr. Garabedian noted at the end of their visit to two retirement homes in Yerevan”.