SPEECH BY DR KOH POH KOON, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MOH AND MOM, AT THE LIONS BEFRIENDERS SYMPOSIUM 2025

Mr. Alex Lim, Board Chairman, Lions Befrienders

Ms Karen Wee, Executive Director, Lions Befrienders

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, our stakeholders and partners in the community

Introduction

1.       A very good afternoon to everyone. It is a pleasure to be here today at the Lions Befrienders Symposium 2025. I am truly heartened to see such a dedicated and diverse group that is gathered here today – from mental health practitioners like counsellors and social workers, to nursing professionals and educators. We are united by one common goal: to ensure our seniors age well with dignity, support, and purpose. And each and every one of us has a role to play – some big, some small – but all of us contribute to the same common purpose.

2.           This October, we mark World Mental Health Month, a reminder that mental health is a worldwide concern, and that emotional well-being is as important as physical health, setting the foundation to holistic health. We also observe the International Day of Older Persons in October every year, to recognise the contributions of our seniors and celebrate ageing. So let me take this opportunity to thank all of us, our partners in the sector, for your contributions towards helping our seniors age well!

3.       Now for many seniors, their ageing journey involves more than just physical challenges, like having to wear spectacles, and feeling more aches and pain. It comes with emotional transitions as well. I am sure all of us at some stage go through what we call a “midlife crisis”. You start to feel that your body is not the same as before, with all these emotional transitions, including the anxiety of declining health, the grief of losing our loved ones, and the loneliness that can come with reduced mobility or social isolation. And for some of us, the deep thinking that comes when you start to see some of your peers and friends passing on as well, brings to light your own mortality. It is an emotive transitional phase that we all go through as we age.

4.       For caregivers, the experience can also be equally complex: from burnout, stress, and anticipatory grief. These are real and often unspoken burdens that caregivers bear.

5.       This is why mental health education, access to mental health services, and support systems such as community-based case management, are integral to the care journey of Singaporeans. And in our care system, we need to optimise the three key objectives of quality, accessibility and affordability.

Exploring technological applications to enhance care quality

6.       So let me take this chance to elaborate on each of these three key objectives.  First, let me talk about quality. Now, it is paramount that we maintain high quality mental health care to engender public trust in our services and give assurance and peace of mind to our patients and their families.  

7.           In this age of technology, we can achieve and sustain such high-quality care through strategic and innovative application of machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). Some of these tools are starting to come into your practice as counsellors and as community supporters. We see examples of such applications in platforms that offer mental well-being resources and self-help functions, as well as those that can monitor cognitive or mood changes. For these tools to be effective and scalable, they should be inclusive, intuitive, and importantly, designed with empathy.

8.           In this regard, I am heartened to hear that the Lions Befrienders has been working closely with different schools and community partners in running Safe Pod. This is an initiative launched in 2021 at Queenstown which uses an AI screening tool to help determine the level of support a person needs. The AI analyses residents' facial expressions, map out their positive and negative emotions, and help counsellors establish therapeutic relationships with seniors.

9.           The application of AI to augment mental health services is a transformative move, and I really look forward to hearing more innovative applications of AI while importantly ensuring that the safety and quality of mental health services are not compromised as a result of AI. Why? Because AI may be a useful tool to help you arrive at some decision-making point, but as counsellors you all know, that what a person needs when they are in distress, is really just another human being showing care and concern. It is not just arriving at the correct decision, it is about walking the journey, and they need to feel that they are not alone. So all of us, regardless of what technology we use, must not forget that our first and foremost mission is to bring comfort.

Ensuring affordability across the care spectrum

10.        Now, this brings me to the second objective which is affordability. Beyond quality, it is also important to ensure that care services across the entire spectrum, from diagnosis and management to long-term care, must remain affordable. Over the years, we have strived to make mental health services affordable here in Singapore. Our healthcare system provides substantial financial support including subsidy, MediShield Life and MediSave use for those requiring mental health services. You should be familiar with the S+3Ms framework that we have.

11.      The deterioration of our mental and cognitive ability can eventually affect our ability to perform activities of daily living. Under these circumstances, additional support to help seniors with their personal and medical care is important so that they can live with dignity and also purpose.

12.     We have over time built up a suite of long-term care services, to support those who require assistance with activities of daily living. And the Government has also announced a series of measures to keep these services affordable. From next year, the Home Caregiving Grant will provide up to $600 per month to support those receiving care at home. Those using home and community long-term care services can also receive up to 95% subsidy from the Government. We are also expanding the eligibility criteria for those schemes to cover seven in 10 households, so that more can benefit from these funding support. From 2026 onwards, these enhanced subsidies and grants will help offset more than two-thirds of long-term care costs, making them much more affordable to those who need this long-term care.

13.     And on top of subsidies and grants, there is CareShield Life – our national long-term care insurance – which was introduced in 2020. CareShield Life provides monthly cash payouts for policyholders who develop severe disability and may require more caregiving support. This also supports many who are unable to perform activities of daily living due to cognitive impairments. So it not just physical impairment that can actually unlock CareShield Life payments – cognitive impairment, if it interferes with your ability to function or daily living, will also be considered for CareShield Life payouts. And this includes things like dementia, for example. These payouts are in the form of cash as well, to allow for more flexibility in deciding your preferred care management and care arrangements.

14.     The Government recently accepted the recommendations of the CareShield Life Council to double the CareShield Life payout growth rate from 2% per year, to 4% per year. This is a significant enhancement and the aim is to ensure that the payouts from the scheme can better defray the increases in the cost of care. As more Singaporeans are covered under CareShield Life, the payouts from this scheme will be a meaningful supplement to government subsidies and MediSave, and can help keep long-term care costs affordable. It is a very comprehensive set – from Government funded subsidies to the S+3Ms and now, additional CareShield Life support. We hope it will be a comprehensive suite of financial support.

Improving Accessibility to Care and Financing

15.        Besides being affordable and of good quality, care must be readily accessible. To ensure this, MOH implemented the First Stops for Mental Health (FSMH) to provide a clear, "no wrong door" touchpoint for anyone in mental distress or crisis and guide individuals to obtain the help that they need. Our First Stop services include the national mindline 1771. It also includes a self-help portal like mindline.sg, for those who prefer to do some self-reading on the website. And it includes Community Outreach Teams, the CREST Teams that we have, working in partnership with many of our stakeholders in the community like yourselves.

16.        For patients who have long-term mental health and dementia care needs, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) is the go-to agency to help individuals and their caregivers identify appropriate long-term care services. So you do not get lost in the system, there is someone to help you with that. Our Silver Generation Ambassadors, People’s Association volunteers and other volunteers perform community outreach and proactively identify individuals with long-term care needs. They are part of a larger, broader community ecosystem that is wrapped around individuals with care needs. And AIC also helps individuals identify and assess their eligibility for various relevant financing schemes, such as the earlier mentioned Home Caregiving Grant, to better support their needs.

Importance of Palliative Care and Grief Support

17.     Even as we enhance the quality, the affordability and the accessibility of care, we also recognise that it can be an emotional journey for seniors and their loved ones during their life's final chapter.

18.        As we look towards the end of the ageing journey, we cannot ignore the importance of palliative care and grief support. Because these are deeply personal journeys that require compassion, sensitivity, and safe spaces for both the seniors and their families to be able to come to grips with the situation. They remind us that eldercare is not just about prolonging lifespans. It is not about adding more years to life, but also about preserving their dignity and quality of life at every stage, so that no matter what length your life is, you live with dignity and purpose.