“I believe life is really the most precious thing in the world and we should find our joy in the smallest things.
I continue to do what is close to my heart: I acquire new knowledge, I engage in self-education, my life is constantly in progress. I never aspired to a career, even to great heights, I love small places, new jobs and difficult problems that no one has taken up to solve.
The most important values of life are honesty and peace. I have immense respect for honesty, love and admire intelligent people. I really like to work, to work non-stop, it just has to be interesting, effective and useful to people. It is not necessary to value only yourself, it is often necessary to step aside and see how your work gives the desired fruits and results.
I am very strong, stubborn, infinitely patient, full of an extreme sense of justice. I don’t want to be like someone else and I think that my type of person is not so bad for me and my surroundings. I always have a sense of responsibility towards the people around me and that makes me very strong, I do everything to make their existence in my environment comfortable for everyone. There are people whose dedication gives me strength, when I need help there are people who are useful to me, and that is first of all my daughter, the greatest gift in the world for me, whose love and dedication make me live and smile, my gives an opportunity to value life, find new ways and create good.
I have participated in a number of epidemiologist, palliative medicine and gerontology trainings. I worked at the Scientific Center of Yerevan State Medical University, named after Mkhitar Heratsi, Erebuni and Nubarashen Territorial Expert Center, at the temporary shelter for the homeless, and then at the No. 1 House boarding school, as the head of the medical service. In these institutions, when the patient has no relatives, no normal diagnosis, no condition and financial means, you start your work from the very beginning and do everything possible to help the person. I consider it a small matter, a drop in the ocean, but thanks to it, not a few hopeless situations have been solved.
I see myself in social programs as an established and complete person and a self-proclaimed specialist. It is the job where you are selfless and devote all your energy to your work. I have worked with the elderly for many years, they felt my selfless devotion to them and I inspired them with confidence. I really want our society to understand that sometimes you can help a person in very simple ways, with easier steps.
For an elderly person with memory problems, the most important thing is to feel important, you have to convey that feeling to them. The main thing for them is care and compassionate treatment, because even if they forget your name, they don’t forget the feeling you give them by being next to them and taking care of them.
I joined the organization of Alzheimer’s Care Armenia in 2022. I organize courses about dementia and Alzheimer’s disease for primary care and family doctors of Yerevan and marzes, during which I present the types of the disease, diagnostic methods, types of memory testing and assessment tests, which are used to check human cognitive functions and information needed by the person with the disease and the person caring for the patient.
I am sure that during the implementation of our program we will raise the bar on Alzheimer’s disease training of primary care physicians and nurses. By raising awareness and visibility about Alzheimer’s disease, we will encourage people to not be ashamed of this disease so they can be proactive and see their primary care physician as the first step in getting medical care.
We are all mortal and all diseases lead to death, there are no inconvenient and convenient diseases. When we are faced with any problem, it is better to look into the problem and try to solve it in a timely manner than to close our eyes and magnify it. Believe me, there is no such problem that a person cannot solve. If the disease is prevented in time, it will be easy for others to help and take care of him, and the most important thing is that we don’t have to be ashamed of our relatives’ illness in any way.
And I would like to say again: People are more good than bad, life is really the most precious thing in the world and we should find our joy in the smallest things.”
Sona Mkhitaryan
Doctor, Alzheimer’s Care Armenia
