Plan to Address Psychosocial and Mental Health Needs of Care-givers
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Ms Anthea Ong’s inquiry into a national care-giving plan and how current frameworks address the psychosocial and mental health needs of caregivers. Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong stated that MOH supports caregivers by expanding care options and respite services, noting an $800 million expenditure on long-term care in 2016. He highlighted community outreach teams providing emotional support and counseling, as well as the Third Enabling Masterplan which offers disability caregiver support through the ‘Care-giver Pod’. Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong also noted ground-up initiatives and peer support networks that foster community awareness and collective recognition of the complex challenges caregivers face. A review is currently being undertaken to further strengthen senior care-giving support, specifically focusing on improving care navigation and enhancing socio-emotional assistance through various community-based partnerships.
Transcript
78 Ms Anthea Ong asked the Minister for Health (a) whether there is an impending national care-giving plan to address the complex challenges in this area; (b) whether the Action Plan for Successful Ageing, Enabling Masterplan and Community Mental Health Masterplan address the psychosocial and mental health needs of care-givers and, if so, how; and (c) what is the current percentage of healthcare spending on care-giving.
Mr Gan Kim Yong: Care-giving needs will grow as our population ages, with one in four Singaporeans aged 65 and above by 2030. Guided by the Action Plan for Successful Ageing, MOH's approach towards supporting caregivers, includes expanding and deepening the range of care options available for their loved ones, so that care-givers can have peace of mind.
To this end, we have added 2,600 day places and 2,300 home care places since 2015. We have also made respite care at nursing homes and eldercare centres more accessible so that care-givers can have a reprieve in care-giving. Overall, around $800 million was spent in 2016 on the long term care sector, which could help to meet these care-giving needs and to ensure that quality care is affordable and accessible.
Besides these efforts, other programmes are in place to support the psychosocial and mental health needs of care-givers. For example, community outreach and community intervention teams are available to provide care-givers with emotional support, psycho-social education and counselling, equipping them with more insights about their loved one's conditions and how they can be better supported. Care-giver support networks are also a valuable source of peer support and mutual help.
In addition, support for care-givers of persons with disabilities has also been enhanced under the Third Enabling Masterplan. For example, SG Enable recently set up a 'Care-giver Pod' at the Enabling Village to facilitate peer support group activities and training, and to make it convenient for caregivers to access information, referrals to disability services and support.
We have also seen ground-up initiatives, such as the Care-giving@Southwest programme recently launched by the Southwest Community Development Council in December 2018. The effort seeks to build community-wide awareness and recognition of caregivers and their care-giving needs, and brings together community partners to show collective support for care-givers. We want to encourage more of such ground-up local efforts, as part of a whole-of-society effort to support our care-givers.
However, we recognise that more can be done. A review is presently being undertaken to look into strengthening support for senior care-giving. As part of the review, MOH has been engaging care-givers and other stakeholders to gather feedback and discuss ideas since September last year. Areas under review include improving care navigation in the community, enhancing care-giver support in areas such as respite services, and working with community partners to offer more socio-emotional support to care-givers. MOH and partner agencies are developing specific recommendations in these areas, and more details will be provided in due course.