The Launch of The Public Education Forum For Hospice Awareness Week

09 Oct 2005

By Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts and Health

Venue: TTSH Auditorium

Dr Chen Ai Ju

Chairman, Singapore Hospice Council

Dr Seet Ai Mee

Chairman, Hospice Care Association & Founding Chairman, Singapore Hospice Council

I am happy to be here today at the launch of this Public Forum on Hospice Awareness.  Hospice is an important yet not a well-understood part of our health care system. Words like "palliative care", "advanced care", and "end -of-life care" are commonly used in place of the word "hospice", but they all refer to the same thing - holistic care that goes beyond mere "care for the dying". It is care that that also provides overall relief of suffering and improves the quality of life.

Origins of hospice care

Hospice today is a concept of care derived from the word "hospitality" in medieval times, which represented a place where travellers, pilgrims and the sick, wounded or dying could find rest and comfort. The modern concept of hospice was developed by the late Dame Cicely Saunders, who is widely acknowledged as the founder of the modern hospice movement.

In 1967, she used the combined skills from her nursing, social work and medical background to start the St. Christopher's Hospice in London, the first modern hospice in the world to provide the concept of care where patients would obtain relief of "total pain", covering the physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions.

Development of hospice care overseas & locally

In the United Kingdom, hospice care first developed as an inpatient facility - a place where people could stay, just like St Christopher's Hospice in London.  But patients wanted to be cared for in their own home, and so hospice home care support teams were developed. This allowed inpatient hospice facilities to tend to the dying who had more difficult, complex problems, with home hospice catering to those with less complex problems.   Early hospice work in the United States on the other hand, was provided exclusively in patients' homes.

Like the United States, hospice care in Singapore first started in 1985 in the patients' home through the care given by a group of visiting volunteer doctors and nurses.  Today, there are 8 different organizations under the umbrella organisation of Singapore Hospice Council which provide 3 different types of hospice services - in-patient care, day care services and home care. Today, at this Hospice Awareness Week, you will be familiarised with the different ways that hospice care is provided in Singapore.

Hospice care at Home and in the community

Hospice Care Association, one of the members of the Singapore Hospice Council, has an active Hospice Into The Community programme to encourage hospice care at home.

Home is a comforting place. It is where we are surrounded by familiar things and familiar faces. It is also the obvious choice for anyone to stay.  Home is where one has quality of life compared to an institution which may provide better quality of care.   In the case of hospice care at home, healthcare staff like doctors and nurses to visit the patient at their own homes to help them to be free of symptoms and pain, and have a "comfortable life".   Patients would be better able to cope with their emotional and mental problems if they have a trained person like a doctor, nurse, or social worker trained in palliative care talk to them, and counsel them. If a terminally ill person is certified by the doctor to be suitable for home hospice care, the home hospice care team will step in and undertake whatever is necessary to keep the person comfortable.

I understand that the Hospice Care Association has also started a Student Education Programme for Primary, Secondary and Tertiary students to educate students on care of the elderly sick at home. This is good. Not only will it teach our children what they can do to help the elderly, but also allow them time to bond with the older people, especially their own grandparents & elderly relatives.

Conclusion

I am therefore very encouraged to see all of you here today at this Public Forum on "Hospice care at Home and in the Community".  I have been told that there will be testimonies of persons staying in their own homes, on how the hospice services have helped them cope with their situation, and from family members who have also benefited from these services.

I trust that their stories will provide you with a better understanding of hospice services in Singapore.  I hope you  maximise your Sunday afternoon today by participating in the question and answer session which will follow the presentations.