Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health, at the opening of TOUCH Home Care Centre (Ang Mo Kio), 25 November 2015

Mr Eugene Seow, Executive Director, TOUCH Community Services

Mr Ang Hin Kee, My Parliamentary Colleague for the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency

Dr Jennifer Lee, Chairman of Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)

Dr Jason Cheah, Chief Executive Officer, Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)

Distinguished guests

Grassroots leaders from Ang Mo Kio GRC

Ladies and gentlemen

        Good afternoon everyone. It is my pleasure to join you for the official opening of TOUCH Home Care’s new centre in Ang Mo Kio.

2.     This is TOUCH Home Care’s third centre and will bring TOUCH’s home care services closer to residents in Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Sin Ming. Four years ago, I had the honour of officiating the opening of its second centre in Jurong. I am heartened by the good work that TOUCH Home Care has done in the past years, providing home-based services, meals-on-wheels and medical escort to some 2,000 elderly residents each year. This new centre will provide home-based care services to some 270 elderly residents living in the Ang Mo Kio, Bishan and Sin Ming area by 2017. I am confident that in expanding their services here, they will similarly continue their good work in serving residents.

Ageing Well in Community 

3.     The government’s vision is to make Singapore a Nation for All Ages, one where our seniors can age actively, healthily and gracefully, with peace of mind. Many Singaporeans prefer to age in place, and spend their golden years at home and in an environment that they are familiar with.

4.     While we are ramping up nursing home capacity to care for seniors with higher care needs, we have also been developing home and community care to provide an option for seniors age in place and to be cared for in the community. To do so, we need a good eco-system of care in the community to support our seniors to age in place. Seniors and their caregivers need to be supported by good home care services that are comprehensive and readily accessible. To make home care services more accessible to our seniors, MOH has been working with providers such as TOUCH to rapidly expand home care capacity. As of end-2014, we can serve 6,500 seniors needing home-based care and we are on track to meeting our target to be able to serve 10,000 seniors by 2020. This centre is in line with our goal of bringing home care services to more seniors in the community.

5.     Currently, there are more than 20 VWOs including TOUCH which provide home care services. MOH and AIC want to work actively with these service providers to expand the suite of home care services they can offer, and make the range of home care services more comprehensive and holistic. This will give caregivers more confidence in supporting their loved ones to age in place as they do not have to access the different services from many providers.

6.     TOUCH Home Care is one of the fore runners in providing comprehensive, holistic home based care. Those with healthcare needs can tap on TOUCH’s home-based medical, nursing and therapy services. TOUCH also offers home personal care services like showering, housekeeping, medication reminders and other home help services such as meals-on-wheels and medical escort services.

7.     In fact, I just met Mr and Mrs Lim this afternoon when TOUCH brought me on one of their home visits. Since 2014, TOUCH has helped this couple with home nursing, home therapy, housekeeping, delivering meals on wheels, and providing transportation services. In addition, TOUCH has helped to improve the couple’s living conditions via home modifications. TOUCH’s home care staff have also helped the couple with errands, such as coordinating and reminding them of medical appointments, and even escorting them to the bank to deposit their GST vouchers.

8.     MOH is also taking steps to enhance the quality of home care services. Earlier this year, we introduced the Guidelines for Home Care which will serve as a reference for providers to work towards delivering quality care for our seniors. We also recognise the role of technology in supporting home care providers to provide better quality care. With technology, providers can become more productive and deliver more effective and responsive care to our seniors. They can spend more time caring for seniors instead of spending time travelling or doing admin tasks. For example, they can use mobile apps that help them retrieve patient information and develop care plans on the go. To encourage more innovative ways of delivering home care, MOH has recently launched the Care-at-Home Innovation Grant under the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) on Active and Confident Ageing in August this year. For a start, $50M has been set aside for this NIC over the next three years. The Care-at-home Innovation Grant seeks to facilitate greater adoption of technology among our home care providers to deliver good quality care in a more efficient way. I understand there were close to 60 proposal abstracts submitted for the grant and I look forward to seeing the innovative solutions that may result from the grant. An interesting submission is the idea of developing an e-marketplace for home care services. We are in the midst of evaluating these proposals and will shortlist some for further evaluation. We hope to announce the winners of this grant in the first half of next year.

Whole-of-Community Approach 

9.     Ageing is not an issue that the government and providers can tackle on our own. The local community also has a part to play. On this note, I would like to commend TOUCH for their efforts. Under MOH’s "City for All Ages" project, we aim to create a senior friendly city for Singaporeans to grow old in. TOUCH was actively involved in piloting the first "City for All Ages" project in Marine Parade. I am heartened to see that TOUCH has continued the spirit of the "City for All Ages" project in Ang Mo Kio. Since expanding its presence here, they have worked with AIC, People’s Association, Pioneer Generation Office, Ang Mo Kio Social Service Office and Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre, with the advisors, to reach out to residents to learn more about the needs of seniors living in Ang Mo Kio.

10.     The most recent initiative TOUCH has embarked on is conducting a town audit in collaboration with the Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre. This was completed in early November. During the town audits, TOUCH volunteers followed seniors to better appreciate any issues they face navigating the neighbourhood in their daily lives. Such walkabouts allow TOUCH to identify improvements in the town infrastructure that can help seniors move around more safely in the neighbourhood. This will go a long way in providing valuable recommendations to the Town Council during their improvement works. I look forward to seeing the fruits of their hard work in making the neighbourhood more comfortable and accessible for residents.

Conclusion

11.     Indeed, the effort to build a more caring and senior-friendly environment in Ang Mo Kio requires a whole-of-community approach. Only with strong partnerships on the ground and residents having a stake in their neighbourhood, can we create the ‘kampong spirit’ that cares for and respects seniors. When I visited Mr and Mrs Lim earlier on, I felt that it was heartwarming that they can continue living in their own home, in familiar surroundings and among friends, with TOUCH’s support.                                                

12.     In closing, let me congratulate TOUCH on the opening of their new home care centre. I look forward to TOUCH continuing its exemplary work in reaching out to residents and touching lives.

13.     Thank you.