MOH to boost home care services for seniors

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Health (MOH) will provide more support for the care of seniors at home and make respite services for caregivers more accessible, as it aims to respond to the challenges of an ageing population beyond developing more hospitals.

Besides increasing the bed count in acute and community hospitals and in nursing homes, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong told Parliament yesterday that the ministry intends to expand capacity and capability in community and home care services to “complement efforts” in adding beds.

“This includes introducing new care models which allow our elders to age in place and live their golden years with or close to their families,” he added.

Elaborating further during the ministry’s debate on its budget, Senior Minister of State (Health) Amy Khor announced that more subsidised home care services will be made available. In particular, subsidies will be extended to home-based rehabilitation services and home environment assessment starting from next month.

Some seniors are unable to visit day rehabilitation centres, but Dr Khor said home-based rehabilitation would allow a therapist or therapy aide to visit them at home to assess and carry out active rehabilitation for up to four months.

“The objective is to bring rehabilitation in a more timely manner to these seniors at home, enabling them to regain as much of their functional ability as possible within their daily living environment and remain independent longer,” she said.

Likewise, through home environment assessment, therapists will visit the homes of seniors who are receiving home-based care services to identify home hazards and recommend home modifications to facilitate independent living.

Seniors can receive up to S$97 in subsidies for each home visit. The amount will be based on the results of means testing and available to those receiving care from MOH-funded service providers.

“The quality of home care services is important, because we want to give caregivers peace of mind that their mum or dad or loved one will be well looked after at home when they are at work,” Dr Khor said.

To provide relief for caregivers, the ministry will partner a number of eldercare centres to pilot weekend respite services by the second half of the year. Caregivers can drop off the seniors at these centres during weekends for a few hours, if they need a respite or to run errands, said Dr Khor.

On top of that, between July and September this year, a one-stop call centre for caregivers will be set up. They will be able to access services such as referral to care services and application for grants, among other things, by calling one number, she added.

The ministry is also studying a new model of funding, expected to be implemented between July and September. This is to encourage providers of home nursing, home medical and home-based personal care services to take a “person-centric view” and integrate care for patients who need home care as a long-term care option, said Dr Khor.

Under the new model, providers will be funded on a per-client basis — instead of a per-visit basis — providing a fixed amount of funding per month for each senior under their care, based on their individual care needs, she said.