Sole earner, sole caregiver

TRANSFORMING Singapore's long-term care is one of the key pillars of Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan's health manifesto for the next five years.

Done well, this will particularly benefit the elderly with chronic diseases, so that they can have a good quality of life, he said in his blog on March 10.

Mr Khaw said that all doctors, nurses and allied health professionals will be equipped with knowledge of geriatric medicine as a core competency.

To achieve that, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will set up a Geriatric Education and Research Institute and the Senior's Mobility Fund with $10 million to help needy elders buy basic mobility devices like wheelchairs.

New nursing homes will be built in HDB estates.

Extra help

The Agency for Integrated Care said yesterday that elderly people living in the west can soon count on extra help with Touch Home Care providing cost-effective home care services in the area.

Touch Community Services has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) and the Centre for Enabled Living (CEL) to collaborate on a pilot programme to expand its services into the western part of Singapore.

To meet the rising demand for home care and home help, especially in the western area where there is a lack of such services, AIC and CEL will provide funding of up to $700,000 for two years for Touch to set up an office base in Jurong.

Health and social services will be coordinated and provided to residents in Jurong East, Jurong West and Boon Lay by this base, which is targeted to open by June. Touch aims to serve some 300 residents in the area by the end of two years.

The collaboration is a first for the parent ministries, MOH and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, signifying a whole-of-government approach towards realising the goal for more elderly to age in place at home and within the communities they are familiar with, said Dr Jason Cheah, chief executive officer of AIC.

There are 20 home care and home help service providers in Singapore, each offering a variety of healthcare and social services.

Home care here refers mostly to home medical, nursing and therapy services, while home help refers to services such as meals-on-wheels, escort and housekeeping.

Each year, AIC refers about 6,000 patients to home care service providers. Three-quarters of them are aged 65 years and above, and require assistance in activities of daily living such as feeding, going to the toilet, and personal grooming, and may be bed-bound.

The number of clients receiving social services from home help providers stand at more than 4,000 each year.

This article was first published in The New Paper.