Men Above 55 Who Have Sought Mental Health Support from General Practitioners or Community Intervention Teams

44 Mr Edward Chia Bing Hui asked the Minister for Health (a) to date, how many men aged 55 and above have sought mental health support from local general practitioners or community intervention teams; and (b) what are the efforts currently undertaken by the Ministry to track the effectiveness of support given to them.

Mr Ong Ye Kung: Together with the Agency for Integrated Care and Social Service Agencies, the Ministry has set up Community Outreach Teams and Community Intervention Teams (COMIT) to provide care to persons with mental health needs.

Based on data reported to the Ministry of Health, in the last three years, COMIT, polyclinics and general practitioners under the Mental Health General Practitioner Partnership Programme had supported around 47,000 clients with mental health needs. Approximately 15% of the clients managed by COMIT and polyclinics were men aged 55 and above. Our COMIT service providers and polyclinics monitor the progress of their clients through pre- and post-intervention assessment.