SINGAPORE:
Two programmes aimed at the early
detection and treatment of mental disorders among the elderly have made inroads
into raising the awareness of mental health issues faced by Singapore's greying
population.
The
Institute of Mental Health's (IMH) Aged Psychiatry Community Assessment and
Treatment Service (APCATS) and Changi General Hospital's (CGH) Community
Psychogeriatric Programme have screened more than 2,500 elderly persons here
and trained various community partners to identify and better manage charges
with dementia.
One of
the agencies that have benefitted from IMH's programme is the Man Fut Tong
Nursing Home, which also runs a day-care centre for the elderly.
About
20 of its care staff and therapists have undergone more than 70 hours of free
training since 2009. Armed with the necessary techniques to screen their
elderly clients, staff members have been able to identify those who might be
mentally unwell.
For
example, a 72-year-old man at the day-care centre was noted to be "very
unmotivated" and had lost interest in activities, said Ms P Manchu,
manager for rehabilitation services in the home. Further diagnosis conducted by
the IMH team confirmed that the man was suffering from moderate depression,
which meant earlier medical help could be given.
A CGH
spokesperson noted that mental health problems in the elderly often "go
undetected until it is too late". Dr Joshua Kua, project director of
APCATS at the IMH, echoed this sentiment, citing studies he has conducted in
two social day care centres for the elderly.
"Findings
have shown that one in five elderly attending these centres have dementia,
which might be undetected," he said.
Dr Kua,
who is also a senior consultant in IMH's department of geriatric psychiatry,
had started APCATS in 2006 after returning from a medical training stint in
Australia.
"I
realised then that we don't have a service here which caters to elderly who are
frail and weak and are unable to come to the clinic for treatment," he
said.
In
2008, APCATS, which provides direct care to home-bound elderly people with
mental health problems, was included into IMH's National Mental Health
Blueprint's Community Psychogeriatric Programme. That same year, a second
component of the programme was launched to train IMH's community care partners.
As of 2010, 69 eldercare agencies have signed up.
More
than just equipping care staff with the knowledge and skills to identify mental
illnesses, the programme also trained staff in the management and care of the
elderly suffering from mental illness.
At Man
Fut Tong Nursing Home, Ms Manchu said her staff were able to conduct
counselling sessions with the 72-year-old man to plan activities which were
more suitable to his needs, "to overcome and manage" his depression.
Dr Kua
hopes to reach out to more community partners, to achieve "a
multiplicative effect", where well-trained staff members can train others.
- TODAY
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