Bihani
Mission: Established in 2013, Bihani Social Venture is Nepal’s first social enterprise relentlessly working to foster age and disability inclusive communities focusing on older adults. To promote a society inclusive of elders, Bihani offers innovative and diverse services and activities. Our primary focus is on individuals above the age of 50 (however not limited to it) while our secondary focus is on families, institutions and organisations who directly or indirectly work or interact with elders.
Bihani emphasises that Social Prescription (as promoted by England’s National Health System –NHS and some countries globally) improves health and well-being as proven by the experiences we have gathered. To promote a society inclusive of elders, Bihani offers innovative and diverse services and activities related to health, social engagement and participation, and organisational development promote the formation of new bonds and exchange of knowledge/ capacities across generations.
Our main focus is on individuals who want to re-engage, re–explore and re–live or simply continue living a rewarding second half of their lives. Our secondary focus is on institutions, organisations and individuals, to raise awareness and sensitise regarding the context of shifting demography/ changing population trend and the diverse issues that may be associated with ageing; disability, social isolation, among others.
Reflections:
I reached out to them after hearing they created the first network of care homes in Nepal which includes around 20 providers. I found this very interesting as they are bridging together providers in order to share information related to the care and provide training for care staff and the management team. In fact, they’ve developed their own training platform with other professionals in order to ensure care homes are providing better care to older adults. This notion of third-party evaluators continues to surface across my travels.
Bihani is a unique organization as well, with other projects going on, such as Wrinkles & Smiles. They recently created the first-ever Senior Citizen’s Talent Show, which I had the opportunity to observe during my last few days in Nepal. I appreciated how they are bridging the gap between communities by creating space and memories for them to engage. I also enjoyed learning how they could connect members to carers if they needed additional support at home that was trained by them.
I appreciated how they also offer training sessions for professionals across care homes. In fact they do some type of exchange for carers to understand and develop multidisciplinary understandings of care in various settings. The importance of continual educational information is important.
