WRITTEN BY NIZIE N. LOKMAN The Ray of Healp Elizabeth Tikoyan, Shining a Light on Chronic Illness Care Globally T he Chronic Disease Centre has reported that six in ten Americans live with chronic disease. It is said to be a leading cause of death and disability in America. Globally, the US has the highest chronic disease burden. Yet, only 40 percent of chronic illnesses have existing medical treatments. Which means the remaining 60% of chronic conditions are unresolved. As a result, many patients experience stress looking for information about their illnesses due to limited research as a point of reference. If there’s anyone who understands this mental stress that a patient goes through when facing a chronic condition, it would be Elizabeth Tikoyan, the founder of the Healp app.
Elizabeth shared the moment when she was minutes away from surgery at 20 years old, facing a health battle, in the Healp Instagram post. “I made a promise to myself. If I ever got better, I would do everything in my power to make sure no one should experience my fate. My chronic illness story will end with a silver lining.” Today, not only has she healed from her medical condition that happened years ago, but she put her heart and soul into designing a crowdsourcing mobile application to provide mental health resources that are not only easily accessible to medical patients but also to the larger community. The health app has reached over 5,000 users in 72 countries worldwide and is still counting. Astonishingly, Elizabeth has been recognized for her positive impact in the disability patient space by Senator Mark Warner and the US Health and Human Services. She is also a Harvard SMP Alumni and Forbes Under 30 Scholar.
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