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Elderly groups have historically played a significant role in society, acting as stewards, role models, and carers. They are, however, also incredibly weak, and many find themselves in precarious situations, experience impairments, or face prejudice. The number of old folks is growing with the improvement in medical technology. Both their needs and their services to the world are growing too. Young people have preconceptions about seniors, notably in the form of stereotyped behaviors and ageism, which can eventually lead to the mistreatment and demoralization of the elderly.

The challenges that the elderly face nowadays are more serious. The UN held a World Assembly on Aging in 1985. The goal was to raise awareness of the issue among member countries. Since these concerns have assumed considerable proportions, it is likely that intellectuals in western nations are now aware of the challenges that the elderly confront. These thinkers have made other countries more aware of this issue. Considering that many people are concerned about getting older in the fast-changing Nepali society, this problem is particularly pressing.

The spread of western cultures and lifestyles in Nepal has compelled the society to change and adapt to its multiethnic, multicultural, and composite civilization. Old-fashioned sociocultural practices are no longer a problem in the communities. All facets of social life, such as social values, ways of living, traditions, and usages, are changing. The cornerstone of our civilization, spirituality, has been undermined by modern comforts and materialistic development.

Due to their poor standing in the community and society, the elderly may endure material as well as psychological desolation on a personal level. The sadness might be made worse by other influencing factors, including the loss of one’s spouse, close friend, or other lifelong companions. This would result in the person’s bodily decline as well as the loss of the social connections to which they had become used, and the isolation would probably cause morbidity and dissatisfaction. Unable to escape the gloom, they feel empty and lost. One such possibility is the fear of dying soon. These factors might all combine to cause excruciating agony that makes their life miserable. It follows that individuals with such regimented thought patterns have a mental illness, and efforts should be made to solve this societal issue.

The Behavioral Attitudes Towards Aging Scale (BATAS) and the Fraboni Scale of Ageism have long been employed to measure attitudes toward senior citizens. Depending on how frequently they interacted with elders and where they lived, medical students’ opinions on ageism and older people were varied. The measures’ psychometric properties are also investigated in relation to their use in a developing country like Nepal. The study suggests the need for measures that are appropriate in the Nepali context and sensitive to cultural variations.

There are, however, a few suggestions that may be taken into account to enhance the lives of seniors. The pension schemes must take the poor into account. The social workers ought to perform fieldwork and can participate in running the program. Considering that only five or six percent of the population is over 60, many of them are distributed over the wide countryside, where families and the local community continue to sustain the long-standing tradition of looking after the elderly. This has aided in the concealment of reality. Last but not least, NGOs should get all the support they can get if they wish to help Nepal overcome the challenges brought on by its aging population.

To sum up, in a low-income economy like ours, the majority of people in rural areas have limited chance to save or invest in old-age support, unlike in industrialized countries and even in our country’s cities. To achieve this, it is now even more important to work on minimizing parents’ reliance on their sons for retirement security.

The author is a student and aspiring entrepreneur

During an internal learning session, a team member who I supervise gave me a piece of feedback. She said, “You get anxious and restless rather easily.” I was taken back because the feedback didn’t align with the kind of identity I have been trying to build for myself. “Really? Anxious? Me?” “Am I restless? Since when?” These kinds of thoughts started popping up into my head. 

If I still had my older perception of seeing feedback as a means of attack, my team member’s words would have hit harder. It wasn’t until long ago that I found it hard to take feedback as I considered it synonymous with criticism, which I didn’t know how to process constructively. 

After much learning, unlearning, and suffering inside my head, I realized that receiving feedback isn’t as bad. If anything, well-meaning feedback saves us from the disasters we invite upon ourselves by giving into patterns that don’t serve us, knowingly (because of our ego) or unknowingly (because of our blind spots). This is something Ray Dalio, the author of the book ‘Principles,’ emphasizes. When our ego gets in the way of understanding what someone is trying to tell us, it’s a good indicator that we are ‘unwilling’ to admit to and work on our unhelpful patterns. 

Ego barrier is difficult to overcome because we see feedback as a direct threat to our identity. If someone gives us feedback, we’re likely to think, “Who do they think they are?” “I know what I’m doing. I don’t need anybody’s suggestions.” “I’m doing the best I can. She needs to change herself, not me.” “How dare they say that!” These thoughts can be louder and more coercive, especially when managers, leaders and supervisors get feedback from the direct reports.

I remember an instance when my team turned in a task after the deadline had passed. As I was discussing with them about what went wrong and how I as a supervisor could have helped them, one of the team members said, “As much as we should have been quicker, I suppose check-ins from you would have helped.” Before I could even process the feedback well, I had an immediate defensive thought, “Oh, so you mean, this delay has happened because of me? I’m the one responsible?” 

But I caught myself immediately and realized that I had a part to play in the delay as well. As much as they were responsible for the task, so was I. Eventually, we discussed ways in which we could keep track of such tasks and prevent delays. This wouldn’t have been possible had I let my ego get in the way. 

When it comes to the blind spot barrier, we may be ‘unable’ to even see that we’re giving into unhelpful patterns, let alone work on them. When my team member pointed out that I get anxious and restless rather easily, it seemed unusual to me. But, instead of taking it as a criticism or a threat to my identity, I asked her the context or situation in which it was true. She then helped me realize that whenever I co-facilitate the Emotional Intelligence course classes with her for high school students and the students don’t participate as I expect, it affects me.

I for sure knew I got disappointed when students didn’t participate or made noise, but I wasn’t aware that it came across as anxiety and restlessness to others. This small piece of feedback helped me manage my disappointment by incorporating changes in activities that allowed more participation, checking in with my colleague about the class progress before, during, and after the sessions, and most importantly, working on managing my own expectations.

As leaders, managers, and supervisors, we need feedback to grow and help our team grow. That feedback is available to us only if we can acknowledge that we have blind spots and ego barriers getting in the way of valuable feedback.

The author is the Linchpin at My Emotions Matter, an education initiative that helps individuals and teams learn the mindset and skills of Emotional Intelligence. Learn more at myemotionsmatter.com

In a major boost to India-Maldives relations under the ‘neighborhood first’ policy, India hosted Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in the first week of August. President Solih led a high-level business and political delegation to discuss a range of bilateral and global issues with India. This was President Solih’s third visit to India after assuming office in October 2018 and the first post-pandemic.

The visit happened amid an internal crisis in the Solih-led Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) coalition government and difficulties for the island country in grappling with development projects, with low volumes of foreign direct investment and tourists. Since the assassination attempt on Mohamed Nasheed (May 2021), his supporters, and Nasheed himself, have been speaking openly against Solih. He is also opposed to Solih’s candidature in the 2023 presidential elections and has accused him of pandering to Islamist hardliners. Interestingly, in the 2022 MDP party chairmanship elections, Solih’s candidate won over Nasheed.

Given the comprehensive partnership with the Maldives, India gave the visit high priority. The two sides discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues including investment, trade, human-resource development, infrastructure, cooperation in multilateral forums, defense, security, and strategic cooperation. As this was the first high-level visit after a two-year gap, the MEA felt it could “advance the exemplary ties of friendship” between the two countries. President Solih met Indian President Droupadi Murmu and had one-on-one as well as delegation level talks with PM Modi. He had a separate meeting with External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

Ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1965, the ties have been characterized by mutual trust, understanding and maturity.  The relationship is free from any major controversy. The one-time claim of the Maldives to Minicoy Island was resolved by the Maritime Boundary Treaty of 1976. Despite many asymmetries, the two countries depend on each other and acknowledge each other as equal partners in their collective endeavor for economic growth, consolidation of democracy, and regional peace. 

The two sets of leaders feel that India’s ‘neighborhood first’ and Maldives’ ‘India first’ policies are complementary. This was reiterated during this visit too. Moreover, the importance of India’s strategic role in that part of the Indian Ocean has been well-recognized by the Maldives given India’s geographical advantage in the region. India is seen as a net security provider to the Maldives both in conventional and non-conventional senses. India was the first to assist the Maldives during the 2004 Tsunami as well as during Male’s water crisis in December 2014.

There are several institutional arrangements between the two countries in areas like hydrographic survey, trade, economic, defense, development cooperation, tourism, disaster management, education, and capacity-building. India was a key trading partner of the Maldives with over $300 in trade in 2021. India was also the fifth largest source of tourists in the Maldives with around 6.1 percent (90,474) market-share before the Covid-19 restrictions. Apart from annual aid and technical assistance, in December 2018, India announced a $1.4 billion financial package in the form of budgetary support, currency swap, and a concessional line of credit to manage the rising external debt created during the presidency of Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom (November 2013- 2018).

Defense and security cooperation is an important aspect of bilateral relationship. India has a wide range of security arrangements with the Maldives including joint maritime security cooperation, SAAGAR, counter-terrorism and capacity building of the Maldivian defence forces.  During this visit, the two PMs acknowledged that the ‘security of India and the Maldives are interlinked’, further strengthening mutual trust and cooperation on security.

This reassurance was both timely and essential. The island country has been witnessing multiple challenges like political instability, Islamic radicalism, extra-regional powers’ interests, and climate change-induced disasters. These challenges are difficult for a small country like the Maldives to address alone. Moreover, given its strategic location and increasing presence of global powers in the Indian Ocean region, these challenges have been a concern for India too. Only a stable, progressive, and democratic government in Male can manage these risks.

Despite being committed to multiparty democracy and a new constitution in 2008, the Maldives has witnessed several autocratic regimes, including, most recently, Yameen’s. India has always pushed for strengthening of multiparty democracy in the Maldives. It played a crucial role in restoring multiparty democracy by supporting the MDP in 2018. India believes autocratic regimes in the Maldives often engage with elements inimical to India. Yameen was the best example of that. The current crisis in the MDP could still affect the continuation of democracy there.

The Maldives is scheduled to have presidential elections in 2023. Current speaker Nasheed and President Solih have shown an interest. If the Solih government continues to be obstructed by Nasheed, then the Progressive Congress, a coalition of the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) and the People’s National Congress (PNC)—which has been spearheading an “India Out” campaign—could have an advantage in the elections. The Yameen-led Progressive Congress is known for serving Chinese interests. 

Back to Solih’s visit, it appears to have been successful given the release of the 30-point joint statement on 02 August and the signing of six MoUs in areas of mutual interests. India’s commitment to a new LoC of $100 million to finance infrastructure in the Maldives would support several large projects and boost the fragile Maldivian economy.

Politically, the MDP currently enjoys the majority in parliament. If the tussle between Nasheed and Solih continues, the MDP might lose the same in the upcoming elections. India would wish for the continuation of the current inclusive combination of radical, conservative, and liberal democratic forces to tackle critical issues like religious extremism and Yameen-led ‘India Out’ campaign.

As India treats emerging security issues of Maldives as a challenge to its own national security, it would prefer to further strengthen democracy there and protect its sphere of influence.

Technological advances and growing digitization have forever changed many industries, the trend only accelerating in the post-pandemic world. Of all these, healthcare, arguably, has benefited the most. The sector has changed in unique ways to improve the level of service it provides. Due to substantial advancements in technology and methods required to serve the increased demand for access to healthcare, expanding digitalization with protected health information is the way forward. 

The rapid evolution of technologies like artificial intelligence, extended reality, and bioprinting have led to some ground-breaking innovations in healthcare. This article discusses various trends in healthcare technology and its future in Nepal. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) has generated a lot of buzz as a practical technology across several sectors, particularly in healthcare. AI is a potent tool for effectively processing available data to improve efficiency in decision-making. For instance, AI is helping detect pneumonia through an analysis of CT scans. Natural Language Processing is an AI domain being used in Chatbots, which has the potential to improve telehealth efficiency. 

We thus see that data is the most significant element in the success of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare. An AI model performs better with higher quality and a broader range of information. 

Another trend has been the incorporation of extended reality in healthcare settings. The sector offers a lot of promise for extended reality, a broad phrase that encompasses Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR). Extended reality assists in the planning of surgeries, patient care, and the explanation of difficult medical procedures to patients and their loved ones. Along with providing heads-up information to the surgeons, it is also helpful for training purposes. 

AR has been used to develop various assistive devices as well. For instance, AccuVein, a US-based startup, has developed an AR-based device to assist nurses in finding the vein in patients, which has traditionally been an arduous task, especially in children and the elderly, with data suggesting a 40 percent of IVs (intravenous injections) miss the vein on the first stick. 

A prominent innovation that has been a boon for healthcare is integration of technology in wearables. Patients carrying devices to access their healthcare information and receive treatment have been standard for a long time. Diabetes patients wear glucose monitors. Instead of a gadget that sits on a table and needs to be linked, implanted devices like pacemakers and defibrillators offer a life-saving, close connection with patients. 

Wearables like smartwatches are becoming an integral part of our day-to-day life. They can regularly monitor an individual’s health parameters like heart rate and blood oxygen saturation without an additional device. Smartwatches can also be equipped with other micro-sensors in the future to avoid life-threatening conditions.

Bio-printing is another field disrupting healthcare with artificial organ development. Bio 3D printers are similar to traditional 3D printers. Here the digital model of the organ to be printed is first designed on a computer. Then it is sliced and exported to a 3D printer, which creates the 3D object layer. These printers use bioinks as the material; great attention is needed to retain the desired resolution and structure. Different organs have been developed using bioprinting and are under clinical testing. 

In Nepal, it is crucial to keep an eye on the current trends influencing healthcare technology as we move forward. Modern hospitals and care facilities rely heavily on legacy infrastructure and software. But time has now come to think about how those systems might be integrated with newer technologies or eventually replaced by more dependable ones. 

A technology incubation center to develop and test these technologies is of utmost importance—we need to be abreast of the rest of the world in this digital technological revolution, enhancing the quality and efficiency of our present healthcare system. Most notably, along with technological incubation, the healthcare sector should, with greater use of new technologies, prioritize improvements in performance, productivity, efficiency, and security without compromising dependability and accessibility.