Supporting our Caregivers - The Silent Heroes

Family caregivers are important partners in patients' care journeys, often shouldering the bulk of long-term care. However, caregivers often assume the demanding role with little formal training or preparation whilst simultaneously straddling other responsibilities in their personal lives. To address this gap, TTSH Carer Matters was conceptualised as a caregiver-centric programme with the aim of enabling caregivers to better care for themselves and their loved ones.

Carer Matters has a team of caregiver support nurses (CSN) who holistically screen, identify and provide targeted interventions for caregivers. The interventions include providing tailored resources, tele-support and workshops to build competencies and coping strategies for caregivers in the management of older persons, as well as address their caregiving needs. Recognising the need for caregivers to have longer-term support in the community, Carer Matters reached out to Care Corner Seniors Services in Toa Payoh.

Together, Care Corner and Carer Matters embarked on a collaborative effort of integrating caregiver support between the hospital and community, thereby enhancing caregivers' competency, wellbeing and readiness to handle current and future care needs. This is done by streamlining processes such as facilitating referrals between Carer Matters workshops and Care Corner's caregiver support services (e.g. CREST and support groups), so that caregivers can benefit from the interventions offered and receive continued support as both patients and caregivers age in place in the community.

In conjunction with this year's World's Alzheimer's Day, Carer Matters and Toa Payoh Care Corner are hosting a physical event supported by the People's Association titled "Celebrate The Joy of Caregiving (Embracing Dementia)". It aims to shine the spotlight on the silent heroes of persons with dementia – their caregivers. It is an opportunity to reach out to more caregivers and create a community of support where caregivers encourage one another and form friendships through their shared experiences. The Carer Matters team looks forward to more collaborations in the future to better support the caregivers as they continue to care for their loved ones.

Click here to view event details