Participants of the workshop with Dr. Kristina Akopyan, Ms. Serine Sahakyan and Dr. Sarah Kagan
GYUMRI, Armenia – On October 8, Dr. Sarah Kagan, adjunct professor at the American University of Armenia (AUA) School of Public Health (SPH) and Lucy Walker Honorary Term Professor of Gerontological Nursing of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing led the Nursing in Armenia Project Team in an outreach effort to healthcare professionals in Gyumri, Armenia. Dr. Kagan was accompanied by AUA SPH colleagues, Serine Sahakyan RN, MPH, and Kristina Akopyan MD, MPH. The team conducted a simultaneously translated workshop aimed at improving the care for older people and highlighting opportunities to participate in the Nursing in Armenia Project.
The workshop was a result of a collaboration between Armenian Caritas and Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR). Dr. Kagan designed the workshop for nurses and physicians involved in providing healthcare to the elders, with the aim of improving their knowledge and understanding of geriatrics and gerontology. Dr. Kagan focused on normal aging processes, geriatric syndromes, and their management and guidelines for successful elder care. She also emphasized the importance of aging well. Dr. Akopyan and Ms. Sahakyan coordinated the outreach effort, organizing materials and providing simultaneous translation in Armenian. Many nurses, as well as social workers, physicians, and facility managers from daycare centers for the older people in Gymuri, Vanadzor, and Gavar, and other healthcare-settings attended the workshop. They shared their experiences and asked questions that Dr. Kagan, Ms. Sahakyan, and Dr. Akopyan answered.
The Penn-AUA Nursing in Armenia Project is a joint effort of the AUA SPH Center for Health Services Research and Development, which is a national assessment project funded through a grant from Edele Hovnanian, University of Pennsylvania alumna and a trustee of her family’s Hirair and Anna Hovnanian Foundation.
The AUA School of Public Health works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of public health professionals to be leaders in public health, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.