project 2022

New home service project for the elderly in Armenia

On Sunday 12 June, the Armenia Senior Citizens Assistance Association (AAAA) of Coldrerio met for a barbecue in the park of Casa Astra. Present at this lunch, in addition to members of the association, were Mrs Marina Mavian, Director of the Armenian Circle of Milan, and Mr Pietro Kuciukian, Honorary Consul of Armenia in Italy. The President of the Association presented the new home care service project for the elderly in the municipality of Aygabats in Shirak, north-west Armenia, and for neighbouring municipalities. In January this year, AAAA had students from the Higher School of Social Sciences in Gyumri and volunteers from Aygabats carry out a survey as the first phase of the project. 31 elderly households in these municipalities were interviewed. The results provided a real picture of the situation, an indispensable basis for the implementation of a project that responds to the real needs of the elderly. In May, training started for about ten young women in the region, aimed at giving them the knowledge and working methods necessary to perform the role of home helpers. This training, already used in the previous project in Maralik, comprises five modules: hygiene, mobility, nutrition, basic care and professional ethics. The trainers are a doctor active in the Akhuryan hospital, Dr Dovtyan, a nurse, Mrs Avasyan, active in the service set up in Maralik, and a professor of Sociology at the Higher School of Social Sciences, Mrs Tonoyan. The training will end in mid-July. In the previous project, the training was done by Dominique Boschetti. This time, it was decided to delegate this task to local trainers; this gives them the opportunity to train others to create similar services in other regions. Trainers and students will also be able to rely on the course created on the KASA Foundation’s distance learning platform. In the future, the service in Maralik and the new service can be used as an organisational model.The service will start its activities in September with two half-time assistants paid for by the Association of Elderly Assistance Armenia, which will also finance the purchase of materials necessary for the operation of the service. The municipality of Aygabats is providing a furnished room and will supply disinfectant, gloves and all the small materials needed for a home care service that meets international hygiene standards. The municipality of Aygabats is considering with the municipality of Arevik the possibility of hiring a third half-time assistant, whose salary they will take over, in order to be able to cover the territory better. The Association will finance the service for up to five years. The municipality will either take it over on its own or find a partner to continue the activity, as was the case in 2019, when the Armenian Red Cross took over the service set up in Maralik.
Left: Pietro Kuciukyan, Honorary Consul, with Riccardo Boschetti, AAAA President