Starter Kit. Idea 353 of 500. Cluster 17
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.
The 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.
Ask first
- Sri Lanka Medical Council. Ask whether counsellors need any registration to work by video.
- Data Protection Authority. Ask what care is needed with notes from counselling sessions.
Check before you spend
Each counsellor's qualification, how emergencies and any risk of harm are handled, and how session notes are kept private on both sides of the call.
Find out these three numbers
- How many paid introductory sessions were booked on each side?
- How many clients booked a second session?
- What fee does a counsellor want per session?
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.