Mental Illness

17 February 2012

Question No. 262

Name of person: Ms Tin Pei Ling

Question 

To ask the Minister for Health (a) if he will provide an update on the

implementation of the National Mental Health Blueprint that was proposed in

2007; (b) how are Singaporeans with mental health conditions (but not

institutionalised) currently supported in the community; and (c) whether there

are plans to further strengthen the network and structure of support in the

community for Singaporeans with mental health conditions.

Answer

1. The National Mental Health Blueprint (NMHBP) was developed in 2006.

To date, about $178m has been invested, and results have been encouraging.

2. One of the key thrusts of the Blueprint was to increase public awareness

and education about mental health. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) has

organised programmes in schools, workplaces and community settings to

increase awareness of mental health issues and facilitate early detection and

treatment. More than 40 initiatives and activities were organised last year,

reaching out to some 170, 000 students and members of the public1.

3. Another key aspect of the Blueprint was to develop integrated mental

health services. Hospital-based teams have been set up to provide integrated

mental health care and physical intervention for patients with health problems

such as those with stroke, diabetes or trauma who are also at risk of developing

mental health problems. We have set up multi-disciplinary community mental

health teams comprising doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to

provide clinical services to patients in the community, as well as urgent

intervention in the case of crisis situations. We have also introduced

programmes to train community health providers such as family physicians and

counsellors to enable them to better manage mental health conditions. Going

forward, we plan to scale up the successful programmes nationally.

4. With regard to current community support for people with mental

illnesses, the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) runs three off-site specialist

outpatient clinics across Singapore and continues to develop links with

community and grassroots agencies to ensure that discharged patients have

adequate family and social support. Currently, there are two Psychiatric

Rehabilitation Homes, one Psychiatric Sheltered Home and eight Psychiatric

Day Care Centres. These facilities provide transitional care and rehabilitation

services for patients to assist their reintegration into the community.

5. Although we have made significant progress, there is much more that we

can do to improve community support for persons with mental illness. We will

be developing more medical and allied health teams in the community to further

strengthen the delivery of mental health care in community settings. We will

also be developing Intermediate and Long-Term Care services in the community

for patients with mental illness. We will be sharing further details on our plans

next month.