SINGAPORE — All 39 Family Service Centres (FSC) and 40 Senior Activity Centres will be able to tap on an Institute of Mental Health (IMH) helpline for advice on managing clients who are suffering from mental illness by the end of next month, the IMH told TODAY.

This, after the IMH and the Agency for Integrated Care ran a pilot of the service with 14 of these organisations starting in October last year.

“(Social welfare workers) face members of the public daily. They may, at times, be dealing with challenging situations, which may involve a person who is suffering from mental illness,” said Mr Mark Alexander, who is Programme Manager with the IMH’s community mental health team.

IMH’s counsellors can promptly identify the nature of the problem and advise the social welfare workers on how to manage the situation, he added. “If necessary, a team of psychiatric-trained nurses may follow up by visiting the patient at his or her home and escort the person back to IMH for further assessment and treatment,” Mr Alexander said.

The 24-hour helpline is already open to IMH patients and their caregivers who may call and seek advice on managing their symptoms, or the challenges they face in the community, for example.

Care Corner FSC (Toa Payoh), which was one of the organisations involved in the pilot, said the helpline was useful for social welfare workers who may sometimes feel “rather helpless” in cases where mental health was a “complicating factor”, said centre director Grace Lee.

In particular, it could also flag those who may need help but may not be known to the IMH, she added.

Mr Chua Wei Bin, who heads the Ang Mo Kio FSC (Cheng San), added that previously, they would seek help from medical social welfare workers when they came across clients who show symptoms of mental illness. However, these medical social workers may not always have the time to help.

With this additional “medical communication channel”, they will be able to get quick advice, he added.