Singapore’s Integrated Care

The Minister of Health, Gan Kim Yong announced on November 8, 2013 that there will be SCCs (Senior Care Centres). SCC is one of the many integrated care services to improve the lives of people especially those that are undergoing intermediate and long term treatments. If you have an elder in the house, you know how challenging it is to care for them.

This is one way of the government to help elders and its caregivers. The elders may feel frail and weak but it doesn’t mean that you have to ignore or deliberately neglect their needs. They are still valuable so here are some tips that you can consider for your elderly:

Promote independence

It is important that you promote independence amongst your elders. They may be weak and frail but there are things that they can do. The elders will feel a sense of accomplishment when they finished a task without help. If you are the caregiver, it is important that you encourage elders to do something instead of contributing to their decline.

Improve mobility

Impaired mobility is a leading health issue for seniors. If the doctors recommend that your elders submit to therapy, you should seriously consider it. Therapies are created to improve the mobility of elders especially if they have problems with balance and decrease strength. By improving the mobility of elders, you are avoiding falls to prevent injuries and accidents.

Give support

Everything will not matter if the primary caregiver or the family does not understand the needs and the condition of their elders. It is imperative that all people accept the challenges presented by their elders. If it is your mother or father, you should do your best to care for them because that’s what they did with you when you were young.

Apart from announcing SCCs, the Health Minister also informed about CHAS (Community Health Assist Scheme). To date, there are about 900 clinics that joined the scheme. The scheme is all about providing accessible primary care for all Singaporeans.