1. From 1 October 2019, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will implement the Home Caregiving Grant (HCG) to provide more financial support for caregiving in the community. Caregivers can also shorten the activation time to access respite care through Go Respite, a new pilot pre-enrolment system.
2. These are part of the Caregiver Support Action Plan announced by MOH in February 2019. The Action Plan strengthens support for caregivers in areas such as caregiver respite care, financial support and care navigation.
More financial support through Home Caregiving Grant
3. The HCG replaces the existing Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Grant with an enhanced quantum of $200 per month. The grant will be a monthly cash payout and beneficiaries will have more flexibility in using it to defray caregiving expenses such as hiring an FDW, home and community-based services, and transportation to medical appointments.
4. To be eligible for the HCG, the care recipient must meet the following criteria:
i. Always require some assistance with at least three activities of daily living[1];
ii. Means-tested to have per capita household monthly income that is S$2,800 or less, or belong to a household with no income and living in a residence with an annual value that is S$13,000 or less;
iii. Is a Singapore Citizen, or a Singapore Permanent Resident with a parent, child or spouse who is a Singapore Citizen; and
iv. Not in a residential long-term care institution (e.g. nursing home).
5. Seniors or their caregivers can start submitting applications for the HCG from 1 October 2019. Those who are already receiving the FDW Grant will be automatically enrolled onto the HCG, and need not apply.
6. The grant will be paid to eligible care recipients, who can also choose to nominate a caregiver to receive it.
7. To learn more about the grant, or to access the Long Term Care Schemes Application Form, applicants can contact the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) via the following channels:
- Website: www.aic.sg/HCG
- AIC Hotline 1800-650-6060 from Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8.30pm, Saturday 8.30am to 4pm.
- Email: enquiries@aic.sg
- AIC Link offices at Changi General Hospital, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, National University Hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Sengkang Community Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital or at AIC’s office at Maxwell Road.
Go Respite pilot shortens activation time for respite care
8. AIC has piloted a pre-enrolment system, called Go Respite, to shorten the activation time for caregivers to access respite care. As of September 2019, there are 20 senior care centres and 26 nursing homes participating in the Go Respite pilot.
9. Caregivers registered under Go Respite will be required to complete some administrative processes in advance to reduce activation time. This includes application processes related to the assessment of eligibility for subsidies, selection of suitable service providers, and allowing service providers to briefly assess care recipient’s medical conditions. Pre-enrolment is valid for two years once completed.
10. Since the start of the pilot in April 2019, AIC has received close to 150 pre-enrolment applications. To date, over 10 per cent of the applicants have activated respite care services under this pilot. The average activation time for those on the pilot is about a week for centres and two weeks for nursing homes, compared to the time taken of up to four weeks for those not on the pilot.
11. Please refer to Annex A for the list of centres/ nursing homes currently participating in Go Repite, and the AIC website for details of the scheme at www.aic.sg/gettingrespite.
Improving accessibility to information and referral services
12. To enable caregivers and seniors to better access information and obtain referrals to services and grants, we will expand AIC Link counters beyond the current eight locations at acute and community hospitals and AIC’s office at Maxwell Road, to selected Silver Generation Office (SGO) Satellite Offices within the community. AIC Link @ Toa Payoh has just started operations this month. Three more AIC Links at Choa Chu Kang, Nee Soon and Pasir Ris will be ready by the end of the year.
13. Caregiver support initiatives under the Action Plan have been rolled out progressively over the course of the year and more initiatives will follow in the coming months.
MINISTRY OF HEALTH
25 SEPTEMBER 2019
[1] The activities of daily living include eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting and moving around.