VeDA Partners with French Advocates to Raise Awareness & Expand Access to Information
The Vestibular Disorders Association (VeDA) recently signed an agreement with the Association des Désordres Vestibulaires (ADeV), a newly formed French patient advocacy organization, to further our mutual goal of raising awareness of vestibular disorders and providing support to the French-speaking vestibular community.
The concept of ADeV (yes, we know it spells “VeDA” backwards:) began forming when Yannis Benaniba, a vestibular patient residing in France, contacted VeDA’s Executive Director, Cynthia Ryan, asking how he could help support French-speaking vestibular patients. Yannis was inspired by VeDA’s Life Rebalanced Chronicles Docuseries, as well as VeDA Ambassador Johan “The Chappiness Guy”‘s podcast, Find Your Chappiness. He has also connected with Dr. Christian Chabbert, PhD, HDR, founder of GDR Vertige, a vestibular research group based in France. After some collaborative brainstorming, these pioneers decided to create a vestibular patient-focused nonprofit incorporated in France.
Together, VeDA and ADeV are working on translating VeDA’s patient education resources into French. Future plans include creating a landing page on VeDA’s website and starting an online support group for French-speaking audiences, as well as other projects, such as a French docu-series. This post will be updated when more information is available.