National Athletes Seeking Psychological Support
Ministry of Culture, Community and YouthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the number of national athletes seeking psychological support and the frequency of mental health assessments for those under the Sport Excellence Scholarship programme. Ms Mariam Jaafar inquired about data from the past five years and the specific protocols for monitoring athlete well-being. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong Chun Fai highlighted that all national carded athletes undergo regular well-being surveys to screen for psychological distress and disorders. Flagged cases are assessed by the Singapore Sport Institute's sport science team, with clinical referrals made to the Singapore Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre for specialist care. The Minister also noted that comprehensive support details had been addressed in previous parliamentary responses.
Transcript
59 Ms Mariam Jaafar asked the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (a) for each year in the past five years, how many national athletes have sought psychological support; and (b) whether the Government does periodic assessments of the mental health of athletes under the Sport Excellence Scholarship (spexScholarship) programme.
Mr Edwin Tong Chun Fai: Under the Sport Excellence (spex) programme, all national carded athletes, including athletes under the spexScholarship programme, receive support for their overall psychological and mental well-being.
As part of regular medical check-ups, all national carded athletes take a well-being survey that screens for possible psychological and mental distress, including eating and sleeping disorders. Cases requiring attention are flagged and assessed by the Singapore Sport Institute (SSI)'s sport science team. If clinical expertise is required, they will be referred to the Singapore Sport and Exercise Medicine Centre (SSMC@CGH) for follow-up with a trained psychiatrist or clinical psychologist.
For comprehensive details on mental health support for our national athletes, the Member may wish to refer to the Ministry’s responses to Dr Wan Rizal and Ms Hany Soh’s Parliamentary Questions on 13 September 2022 and 5 October 2021 respectively. [Please refer to (a) "Mental Health Support for Singapore’s Athletes during Training and in Run-up to Competitions", Official Report, 13 September 2022, Vol 95, Issue 68, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section; and (b) "Celebrating Singaporean Athletes’ Victories and Honouring Efforts in Setbacks", Official Report, 5 October 2021, Vol 95, Issue 40, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.]