Dear Partners and Friends,
In the last issue in February, we featured the Community of Care (CoC) model as an example of how different partners with different skills and strengths are coming together to care for our population in Central Singapore. In this issue, we highlight a key building block of a successful care community – our workforce.
As our population ages, the demand for quality health and social care will continue rising as we aim to keep our population healthy with proper care systems in place. A capable workforce that is able to respond to more complex future care needs and deliver quality care along the complete spectrum of care becomes critical.
Tapping on the strengths of various partners, Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) has formed a network of training partners to help upskill the community care sector. To support the care for the growing number of people with dementia, AIC appointed Alzheimer’s Disease Association (ADA) to provide specialist dementia-related training for the sector. By incorporating a mix of training methodologies including a virtual reality programme, ADA shares how they are helping community care providers to adopt more person-centred care approaches for their clients with dementia.
Besides learning new skills, reskilling our people to adapt to new roles and skills to stay relevant is also necessary and at times, partners come together to support each other in this effort. Case in point is the partnership formed between St Luke’s ElderCare (SLEC) and TTSH to train SLEC therapists to improve community care for patients suffering from osteoarthritis through the CONNACT (Collaborative model of care between Orthopaedics and allied healthcare professionals trial) programme.
We also share two case studies from TTSH where job redesign programmes and transdisciplinary model of care are actively pursued to equip healthcare professionals with a broader range of skills so that they could perform at the top of their licence and better support one another in care teams to provide a more person-centred approach for patients and residents – through the PSA job redesign initiative and TRANSCEND (Transdisciplinary programme for Community Health Professionals).
Not just our workforce, but also individuals in the community need to be empowered to take charge of their health. Through the ESTHER Network programme, patients and clients are given a voice and an opportunity to participate in the redesign and improvement of the care ecosystem. Fei Yue Community Services shares how they marry the training of their workforce and activation of the person-in-need through this programme. The ESTHER Network Collaboration coaching course also provides a platform for their social service professionals to interact with multi-agencies and exchange best practices that will empower them to serve the community better.
Our work in health and social care touches people’s lives. By developing our workforce (both formal and informal) to be Better People, we can make a difference to the care of our patients and residents, strengthening our cause towards building healthier and happier communities.
Yours Truly,
Ms Loh Shu Ching
Executive Director,
Division for Central Health
Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health
