The TTSH Community Rehabilitation Programme marks 20 years of rehabilitating vulnerable patients from hospital back to home and work
24 January 2024
To ensure rehabilitation care is accessible to vulnerable patients,
TTSH Community Fund aims to raise $850,000 a year in donations for its
Community Rehabilitation Programme (CRP). Rehabilitation care is an integral part of recovery, yet some patients are forgoing it because lack of financial means or inability to access centre-based rehabilitation services due to limited physical mobility. To bridge this gap and improve health equity for these patients, the programme brings rehabilitation care to patients in their homes after their discharge from hospital.
The CRP is led by Tan Tock Seng Hospital's rehabilitation allied health therapists, who provide home-based physiotherapy and occupational therapy services, home improvement, return-to-work training and psychosocial support. Since 2004, the CRP has supported more than 5,000 patients, enabling them to regain mobility and reintegrating them into society through comprehensive home rehabilitation. The programme is supported by the TTSH Community Fund, which helps needy patients with out-of-pocket expenses like therapy and mobility aids to help them gain greater independence and improve their quality of life.
New Community Rehabilitation Van
The AM Family Capital Foundation unveiled its gift of a van to CRP this morning at TTSH Integrated Care Hub. The retrofitted secondhand vehicle, through the generous donation of $100,000 by the AM Family Capital Foundation, will allow easy transportation of more specialised and bulky rehabilitation aids to patients' homes. Most of these patients are physically and financially distressed and are unable to access timely and sustained care in hospitals and day rehabilitation centres.
With the new van transporting equipment otherwise only available in care facilities, the CRP care team is now able to introduce more specialised home therapy regimes and better bridge the hospital to home divide for such vulnerable patients. This will enable needy patients to gain greater access to quality rehabilitation.
Ms Lee Chia Yi and Mr Wu Ching-Hsin, founders of AM Family Capital Foundation, have been making a substantial difference through their philanthropic efforts. In 2023, they established the AM Family Capital Foundation, a donor-advised fund (DAF) with The Community Foundation of Singapore, to structure their giving and enhance their charitable impact.
Our commitment to giving is rooted in the conviction that access to healthcare is a right for everyone, not a privilege. It warms my heart to know that our contributions will make a real difference for lower-income patients, offering them the rehabilitation services they need but might not otherwise afford. This is our way of extending a helping hand and showing our care for every member of our community."
- Ms Lee Chia Yi
Greater Access to Rehabilitation Care
Through the years, the CRP has evolved with the changing needs and profile of patients. It started in a time when home-based rehabilitation was not common and therapy sessions were only conducted in hospitals or rehabilitation centres. Seeing that patients had to stop their rehabilitation sessions after hospital discharge as they did not have opportunities to access the services due to cost or limited mobility, the CRP came in to serve this group of patients to help them maximise their recovery outcomes.
The CRP serves more than just TTSH patients; the programme includes patients from other acute and community hospitals. It also serves beyond the silver population, with more than 25 percent are aged 55 years and below. The programme continues to support patients aged 16 years and above, with no or limited access to rehabilitation services. Conditions and injuries under the CRP include traumatic brain injury, stroke, neurodegenerative diseases and musculoskeletal diseases.
While there is more support made available in the community through health and social care partnerships, there are still many underserved groups that fall through the safety net of subsidies. In recent years, we have begun to expand our focus to also serve patients with more complex needs, such as patients who are homebound due to complex medical conditions or disabilities. This group of homebound patients will benefit from rehabilitation and enablement to step out of home and take part in activities in the community. Our goal is to rebuild lives and empower our patients to be part of the community,"
-Ms Goh Check Huang, Principal Physiotherapist, Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Re-building Lives
Ms Carrol Wong, 50, is a stroke survivor and has been supported by the programme since 2017. Ms Wong was bedbound after discharge from hospital, and the CRP team designed her home-based therapy to help her regain some mobility and function. Today, Ms Wong can walk with assistance and recently even re-learnt texting on her mobile phone. “The road to recovery is long and it has been a work in progress for me. I am not alone in this journey; I trained hard every day with guidance from the CRP therapists and tell myself that there is always hope to get better," said Ms Wong.
With changing disease trends and healthcare demands evolving, we see a stronger need for good rehabilitation care in the hospital and more demand for the CRP to support those in the community. The impact of the programme goes beyond our patients; the programme also helps their families on this journey, helping their loved ones regain mobility and independence. Every step of recovery helps them get back on track to rebuild their lives. We are grateful for the generosity of donors for supporting us through the years to keep this programme running and we hope that more will continue to support this good cause,"
- Mrs Eunice Toh, Executive Director, TTSH Community Fund
To continue supporting patients on their rehabilitation and recovery, the CRP needs to raise at least $850,000 a year. To know more about the programme and to donate, please visit: Community Rehabilitation Programme (CRP) page.
