Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health at Clarity Singapore Limited’s 5th Anniversary Fundraising Dinner

Mr Tan Peng Chin, Chairman, Clarity Singapore Limited

Dr Lee Bee Wah, Member of Parliament, Nee Soon GRC,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening.

Introduction

    It is my pleasure to join you tonight to celebrate Clarity’s 5^th Anniversary Fundraising Dinner.

Mental Health Literacy

2.    Mental health is an essential aspect of our holistic health and wellness. However, public awareness and understanding of mental health issues is comparatively low. Promoting public awareness of mental health issues is important because it will facilitate the early identification of such conditions, minimise stigmatising sufferers and enhance support for these patients in the community. More importantly, early identification and intervention can narrow the treatment gap and prevent rapid deterioration of the client’s condition.

3.    Through the Health Promotion Board (HPB), we have been providing outreach and education to schools, workplaces and the community to improve awareness and understanding of mental health issues. Last year, HPB engaged about 10,000 educators, 500 school counsellors and nearly 700 workplaces to raise awareness about mental health.

4.    Hospitals and other community organisations have also organised various mental health-related events. For example, in conjunction with World Mental Health Day on 10 October, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) worked with VWOs to set up education booths, conduct surveys and mental health counselling for TTSH staff, patients, caregivers and members of the public.

5.    Through such events and initiatives, we can reach out to the community to reduce the stigma of mental illness, and create a culture of empathy and compassion. Empowered with greater understanding of the symptoms and avenues to seek help, individuals will be more willing to take action for their loved ones, peers and colleagues, and even for themselves.

6.    Apart from promoting public awareness, we are also enhancing our community based mental health services. We are making good progress in building more community-based allied-health teams. These teams consist of psychologists, medical social workers, and occupational therapists who provide counselling and education on lifestyle modification or self-management strategies, to complement the doctors’ treatment. These teams, together with other community partners, will form an integrated community mental health network in the respective regional health systems, working hand-in-hand to support the clients and their caregivers. We are making good progress in building more community-based allied-health teams. As of now, we have partnered 80 GPs, and developed 9 allied health and specialist-led teams which have seen about 5,500 clients and we expect the number of beneficiaries to increase. By 2017, we aim to train and partner 120 GPs, set up a total of 17 allied health and specialist-led teams in the community to serve up to 21,000 clients.

7.    Clarity is one of our community-based allied-health teams, working closely with the specialist-led team from Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and other community partners such as Community Rehabilitation and Support Service.

8.    I would like to take this opportunity to commend Clarity for its contribution in community work since it started in 2010. Clarity has helped to respond to the mental health needs of our society, regardless of race, religion or nationality. The organisation started as a counselling and psycho-therapy centre in Nee Soon South and has worked with the community and KTPH to provide its services.  Over the last five years, Clarity has provided counselling and therapy to more than 800 clients. It has reached out to more than 4,000 people through its therapy services, public mental health seminars and wellness programmes. Clarity has also introduced “Fridays with Clarity”, an in-house developed mental health rehabilitation programme, catering to those who have completed their psycho-therapy treatment protocol as well as caregivers who require a group support programme.

9.    Ms Yong is an example of one of the clients who has benefited from Clarity’s intervention. Ms Yong stays alone and has difficulties moving around due to her physical disability. She faced huge emotional distress when her sibling passed away and was at risk of developing depression. With early identification, Ms Yong was engaged in individual therapy, group activities, as well as weekly meditation sessions. She learnt how to cope with grief, reduce unhelpful thinking patterns and manage difficult emotions. She is now able to cope better with her sibling’s passing and has a more positive mindset.

10.    I am happy to know that Clarity is looking to expand its services to the new Agape Village at Lorong 8 Toa Payoh. At Agape Village, Clarity will continue to offer its core services of counselling and psycho-therapy, but will add new forms of therapy such as art therapy, as well as targeted programmes for those with specific therapy needs.

Conclusion

11.    Let me in conclusion congratulate Clarity on your 5^th anniversary. The achievements you have made in these 5 short years have been remarkable.  We look forward to many more years of collaboration with you.

12.    Thank you.