The Armenian Healthcare Association of the Bay Area (AHABA) hosted the 9th Armenian Medical World Congress in 2005 in San Francisco.
Our projects include:
- IGEFA Scholarships for Medical Students
- Nursing Program Training Resource
- OQNI - Support for Amputees of War
- PTSD Project
- Research4Life DATABASE
- Symposium on Child and Adolescent Mental Health
- organizing health fairs in Armenia
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- Yerevan, Gyumri, Kapan, including diabetic testing and well-woman exams
- Children's Sports Programs
- support for Yeraz Foundation Diabetic Teaching Camps for young type 1 diabetics in Armenia
- Support for domestic violence prevention in Armenia
- participation in the annual Osteoporosis Symposium in Armenia
IGEFA Scholarships for Medical Students
In 2022, AHABA joined forces with the non-profit foundation, Irene Gyulnazarian Educational Fund for Armenia (IGEFA) led by AHABA Board Member, Ruzanna Ohanjanian. IGEFA has provided tuition help to more than 100 students attending ten of Armenia’s leading universities since 2004.
The AHABA contribution specifically supported the education of students studying medicine in the 2022/2023 funding cycle. The AHABA Board reviewed the applications of med students and funded six scholarships for attendees with diverse medical interests at Yerevan State Medical University.
Award ceremonies were held this past September at the American University of Armenia (AUA) Library with AHABA Board Member, Molly Freeman attending. The medical student scholarship winners have been invited to volunteer at this summer’s Armenian Medical International Conference being held in Yerevan in July 2023.
Nursing Program Training Resource
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AHABA Support for AUA Nursing Program
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is the first stand-alone, US-accredited institution of higher learning in the former Soviet republics. AUA provides undergraduate and graduate programs to students from Armenia, as well as more than twenty-three other countries. With an emphasis on academic excellence, independent thought, scholastic integrity, and fostering leadership, AUA prepares students to play a constructive role in the social and economic development of Armenia and beyond.
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The Bachelor of Science in Nursing is a newly established undergraduate education that is available for nurses who have a diploma in nursing from a vocational level college and seek to advance into a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.
An AHABA donation has enabled this burgeoning program to purchase a subscription to Bates Visual Guide to Physical Examination, a valuable online resource database of videos that will be accessible to students as they prepare for their future careers. It contains more than 7 hours of head-to-toe and systems-based video footage featuring standardized patients that represent various age groups, backgrounds, and conditions. It allows students to prepare for class or review material before exams.
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OQNI - Support for Amputees of War
Following the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) War AHABA provided support to the Armenian non-profit organization OQNI, whose mission is to provide physio and mental health to war veterans through the rebuilding of the bodies and minds of soldiers who lost limbs due to war. AHABA specifically provided both funds and editorial input to a printed booklet, mobile app, and exercise materials that enable an amputee to do physiotherapy and mental health exercises at home. This is important because for most amputees in Armenia, especially those not living in Yerevan, these services are not attainable.
In 2022, Oqni embarked on a two-week trip through the Armenia to meet with amputees and their families and distribute these materials as well as donated all the equipment needed to do physiotherapy at home. In Yerevan, Gyumri, Vanadzor, Tumanyan, Ijevan, Chorotan Village near Berd, Kapan and Goris they onboarded more than one hundred participants into the program and delivered all the equipment needed for at home physiotherapy. Even amputees from the first Artsakh war who may have felt forgotten over the past 30 years were appreciative of the project and the solutions that had been created for them. Oqni’s goal for Summer 2023 is to help one hundred more participants with these services. (Photos below)
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During the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) War period, AHABA provided funds and oversight for a clinical study that compared the efficacy of various methods of treating Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) in soldiers from Artsakh and Armenia. Here, Principal Investigator, Allen Azizian, PhD, California State University, Fresno provides an overview of the AHABA-funded study.
Inpatient residential treatment program for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Results from the 2020 Artsakh (Nagorno- Karabakh) War
In the first phase of the project, we explored the diagnosis, monitoring, and severity of PTSD symptoms of service members during intake and discharge from an inpatient treatment program. The study was retrospective in nature and used a non–randomized sampling method. Our research questions were: 1) Will admission to an inpatient residential treatment program decrease PTSD symptoms among combat exposed military service members? And 2) If admission to an inpatient residential treatment program does decrease symptom severity, which PTSD symptoms will improve the most? The results were published in this peer-reviewed journal article in Military Psychology.
The second phase of the project is ongoing and involves a semi-structured interview of service members about their perception how psychotherapy worked, or conversely, did not work for them. We are examining service members’ preference about demographics of their therapist (e.g., gender, age), therapeutic methods and techniques (e.g., EMDR, CBT), and assessment processes. To date we have collected data from 11 service members of the 35-40 we expect to interview. The collected interviews are being analyzed using qualitative and thematic based methods.
AHABA’s contribution to the project was acknowledged in the journal article.
AHABA supports subscription to the Reasearch4Life database at the American University of Armenia (AUA), improving AUA's ability to deliver critical access to high-quality scientific journals and books. In addition to benefiting our students, this database is accessible to faculty who are conducting research. AUA is thankful to have this resource available to them. What began as a HINARI subscription for the Krikor Soghikian MD Public Health Library at AUA's School of Public Health has gron to include several databases accessible through Research4Life.org
Varduhi Petrosyan, Dean of CHS said: "HINARI is the main database that is used in the Health Sciences both the MPH and BSN programs by faculty, students, and researchers. We are grateful for this."
Symposium on Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Held online September 23-24, 2022
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Through our Gold Sponsorship, AHABA made possible the Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Symposium through the International Center of Professional Development. The symposium was co-chaired by Dr. Arman Danielyan (AHABA board member) and Dr. Armen Soghoyan. The conference was dedicated to the memory of Professor Konstantin Danielyan who chaired the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Medical Psychology of the National Institute of Health of Armenia from 1985 and contributed immensely to the development of the field in Armenia. Held on September 23-24, 2022, the online symposium attracted psychiatrists, psychologists, rehabilitation specialists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech therapists, juvenile justice workers, pediatricians, developmental pediatricians, family doctors, nurses, social workers, counselors, and educators as well as the lay public. Approximately 2,200 health care professionals registered for the symposium, overwhelming the technical capacity which allowed 1,000 attendees. |
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Twenty experts from the United States, Canada, Armenia and Switzerland shared their knowledge and experience on child and adolescent mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders including keynote speakers, Professor Antonio Y. Hardan, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University who provided a clinical and research update on Psychopharmacology of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Gabrielle A. Carlson, MD, Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at State University of New York at Stony Brook, who spoke on Irritability and Mood Disorders in Children and Adolescents. Approximately 600 attendees completed a post-symposium evaluation. 99.8% of participants rated the content useful or very useful. |
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Co-chair, Dr. Arman Danielyan commented on the conference, “I was pleasantly surprised by such tremendous interest in the field of pediatric mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders. We had unexpectedly high number of participants, which emphasized how widespread the problems affecting mental health in youth are. Our conference also helped to have more open discussion about topics not so widely explored or talked about in the past, including gender identity disorders in youth. We hope this will be the first in a series of professional meetings in the field of child and adolescent mental health and Neurodevelopmental disorders that will help to share experience and to improve collaboration between professionals in Armenia and elsewhere with the goal to improve mental/emotional well-being of youth and their families”. |
AHABA (Armenian Healthcare Association of the Bay Area) – after the 2020 war, AHABA started a project eACTS (education of Armenian children through sports). Funds were contributed to evaluate current involvement of children in schools within public schools. It is considered paramount to start a health and wellness initiative, that will increase physical education (PE) hours and to promote team sports in schools and as extracurricular activities year-round. As a healthcare association it encourages a healthy and active lifestyle throughout the school years, nurture sportsmanship in all aspects of competition, widen each student's sporting experience and enjoyment, create a passion for active recreation and sports. Engaging children in team sports is an integral part of education and a key to improvement of physical and mental health, advancing academic achievement, empowering women and girls and building stronger ties in communities and families.
AHABA joined forces with TEAMOV and GOALS (Girls of Armenia Leadership Sports educational Foundation) to establish co-ed basketball leagues in partnership with (up to 10 teams of up to 10 kids each) in one region as a pilot.
- Provide coach training to 10 coaches in partnership with local and international partner organizations • Organize sports and educational activities for the Fall and Spring seasons
- Create a safe space where children can have a sense of normalcy, develop their leadership skills and work on their physical and mental wellbeing.
- Funds transferred $18,000.
Summer Camp for children with type 1 diabetes
AHABA with Katil charitable fund of Armenia, AAMS (Armenian American Medical Society of Southern California), and the Muracan Children’s Hospital of Yerevan annually funds a camp for children with type 1 diabetes. There are about 830 children ages 1-18 years old diagnosed with T1DM in Armenia. About 35 children participate in every camp and this year it will take place from May 29-June 4, 2023.
Children at the camp are provided with the monitoring devices, receiving education on insulin injections, carbohydrate counting, recognition and treatment of hypoglycemia, oral care and other important issues related to life with diabetes. Cultural and sports programs are also part of the diabetes camp. Our diabetes camps have been greatly appreciated by children, their families and local endocrinologists. Annual budget $3000
Contact:
2500 Hospital Drive, Building 4Mountain View, CA 94040tel 650 542-8442fax 1-888-960-1869