UNIQUENESS OF THE ASSOCIATION’S BUSINESS MODEL

  1. To differentiate ourselves from other patient advocacy groups in the country, the Seychelles Patients Association seeks to remain a grass root organization operating at community level and doing most of its major activities in the community and in the places where people live, work and play.
  2. The Association does not do any activity in posh hotels. It chooses to do them in community centres and similar venues. The Association also conducts home visits and seeks to hear patient’s issues in patients’ own environments.
  3. The Association seeks to also remain in close contact with the most marginalized groups in the community as long as these groups and individuals are genuinely trying to do something worthwhile for themselves to improve their situation or are genuinely seeking help with matters that they genuinely cannot handle much on their own.
  4. Resources and time are always limited and no Association can do everything for everyone. Therefore this Association does not waste precious  resources and time on individuals or groups who, when assessed by the Association, do not want to do enough for themselves or  are unreasonable in their demands or expectations.  The Association shall leave this particular group of individuals and field of operation to other organizations who are better able and more willing, to have an impact there.
  5. In all its actions, the Association focuses primarily in the domain of prevention, health literacy, patient empowerment and in developing the right entente between care givers and care receivers. It shall not seek to make big, impressive donations of such as donation of cash, (which it does not have anyway), medical equipment or ambulances. When it has to part-finance anything, it shall only part-finance the production and dissemination of patient information and empowerment material or capacity building processes leading to prevention, health literacy, patient empowerment or better entente between care givers and care receivers.
  6. The Association shall as much as possible not employ permanent full-time staff and shall keep its overheads as low as possible.
  7. In order to remain as independent as possible in its views on matters of national health policy, the Association shall attempt to not seek any core funding from Government.