Idea 353 of 500. Cluster 17: Health, care and the parents of Sri Lankans abroad
Mental-health counselling by video in Sinhala and Tamil, for the island and for Sri Lankans abroad
The mechanism, from the book
Sri Lankans abroad have parents at home whom they cannot look after from Melbourne. They will pay, and the money stays.
Every idea in cluster 17 uses this mechanism.
A first step
Team up with one qualified counsellor who works in Sinhala or Tamil and agree a price for a 50-minute video session. Offer five introductory sessions through a Sri Lankan association's newsletter abroad and five through a student union at home, with a booking link and payment up front. The number of paid bookings, and how many book a second session, tells you which side of the market pays first.
- Who pays first
- A Sinhala or Tamil speaker abroad who wants to talk in their own language and cannot find a counsellor nearby who speaks it.
- What leaves today
- Counselling fees paid abroad go to foreign providers; a Sri Lankan counsellor working by video earns that fee at home, in foreign currency.
The idea and the mechanism are from the book. The first step was written for this site as a suggestion; if you know a better one, say so.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
The only test any idea on this site has to pass. The four rules that go with it are here.
In the book
- Ch. EightWhat It Costs to Go First
Remittances and what it costs the first one to go - Ch. SixteenThe Bridge
The institutions already in existence that could carry value back
More from cluster 17
- 341Home-care agencies with trained, vetted carers, booked and paid from abroad
- 342Assisted-living homes for the parents of Sri Lankans abroad, with the standard published and inspected
- 343A daily check-in service: a nurse's visit, a photograph, a message to the child abroad
- 344Medical escort services: a nurse takes the parent to the appointment and reports back
- 345Pharmacy delivery with the prescription managed and the refills tracked
- 346Dementia day-care centres, which hardly exist yet and are needed everywhere
Idea 353 of the 500 in the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? Every one can be started by one person, one family or one small firm.