Bilim Pharmaceuticals - Kurumsal Sorumluluk - Toplumsal Yatırım

“We create added value through our community investment projects!”

Thanks to the communication activities we carry out within the framework of our strategy of raising social awareness, many people are becoming more aware of illnesses. Within this framework, we carry out community investment projects that aim to raise social awareness particularly concerning schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s.

Let Truths Not Be Masked

The project, besides drawing attention to schizophrenia, aims to show what schizophrenia patients can do when they are given the chance.

Story Contest: This year, the third of the story contest was organized by Bilim Pharmaceuticals and the Federation of Schizophrenia Association, an organization that fights against the social exclusion of schizophrenia patients. Schizophrenia patients participate in the contest with the stories they write. The first 10 stories are collected in a book and presented to readers by Doğan Kitap every year.

Writing Workshop: Because of the extensive interest in writing, which is a means of rehabilitation, we supported the foundation of writing academies at mental facilities in a number of cities in Turkey under Mario Levi’s leadership.

Mask Workshops: Mask Workshops are one of the activities that we carry out in order to contribute to the rehabilitation of patients… We aimed to support the rehabilitation of patients by providing them with an opportunity to express their inner worlds through art which they have difficulty in opening.

Thinking Songs

In cooperation with Bakırköy Prof. Dr. Mazhar Osman Ruh ve Sinir Hastalıkları Hastanesi (BRSHH) (Medical Facility), we carried out an important corporate responsibility project to remove social prejudgments against individuals with psychological problems, particularly schizophrenic patients.

Poems written by the patients treated at the hospital were set to music and collected in an album, entitled “Düşünen Şarkılar”.

Poems that were compiled and collected in a book entitle ‘İnilti’ (Moaning) by a literature teacher named Bedia Tuncer in 1964 were dubbed by famous artists such as Teoman, Ahmet Özhan, Soner Arıca, Betül Demir, Mercan & Rashit and Demet Sağıroğlu.

The revenues generated from sales of the album will be donated to the Bakırköy Mental Facility Foundation and used in the rehabilitation of patients.

Alzheimer’s Call Centre

Turkey’s first Alzheimer’s Call Centre was established with the support of Bilim Pharmaceuticals and the contributions of the Alzheimer’s Association and the Alzheimer’s Foundation in order to provide psychological support to the relatives of Alzheimer’s patients.

The relatives of Alzheimer’s patients receive support from expert psychologists by calling the free-toll number at 0800 261 78 40.

40 Lights - 40 Lives

Thanks to the project, “40 Işık – 40 Hayat”, which we implemented together with Mersin University to raise social awareness on the Alzheimer’s disease and to raise the life quality of patient relatives, we helped 40 families, each with an Alzheimer’s patient, and this way, we shed light on hundreds of thousands of Alzheimer’s patients and their relatives in Turkey. The project, “40 Lights – 40 Lives”, was conducted under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Aynur Özge – an Academician at the Department of Neurology at Faculty of Medicine in Mersin University – in Mersin between February 11th, 2011 and May 28th, 2011. Within the framework of the project, 40 university students, who were already trained with respect to elderly care services, nursing services and elderly psychology, were supported with 16 hours of theoretical education, which covered the progress of Alzheimer’s disease during the normal aging period, as well as the problems associated with the disease, its impacts on patient relatives and comprehensive technical information about it, and 3 hours of practical training on art therapy. Within the framework of the project, 40 students visited 40 families at home for 2 days a week for a period of 3 months in total and established active communication with patients and their relatives. Families thus received professional support from students. While students were dealing with the patients, their relatives got the chance to spare the time for themselves. When required by the families, the project team also provided medical support services.

DOCUMENTARY OF THE “40 IŞIK - 40 HAYAT” PROJECT WAS PREPARED

All activities conducted throughout the project were recorded by an experienced team from the Department of Cinema-TV of the Faculty of Communication in Mersin University under the supervision of Assistant Prof. Dr. Hakan Erkılıç. The documentary of the project was prepared after the shootings supported with scheduled interviews were edited.

THE PROJECT “40 IŞIK - 40 HAYAT” WAS PUBLISHED INTO A BOOK

The entire project was monitored by Assistant Prof. Dr. Nesrin Canbek Mengi, an academician from the Department of Turkish Language and Literature, Faculty of Science and Literature, Mersin University. Sound recorded interviews were made with patient relatives, who gave approval. Stories told by patient relatives were edited and collected in a story and comment book. The book was enriched with the poems and paintings of patients and patient relatives.