Speech by Mr Hawazi Daipi Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Health & Manpower) 2nd Singapore International Neurocognitive Symposium

04 Mar 2011

By Mr Hawazi Daipi Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Health & Manpower)

Venue: Hilton Singapore

Good morning.  It is my pleasure to be here for the opening of the 2nd Singapore International Neurocognitive Symposium, organised by the National Neuroscience Institute.

2 Singapore is one of the fastest ageing countries in the world with an increasing life expectancy combined with a declining birth-rate. As our population ages, the number of Singaporeans suffering from dementia is likely to rise, doubling from about 20,000 today to about 45,000 by year 2020.

Impact of Dementia

3 Dementia exacts a heavy toll on the person and his/her caregiver.  The progressive decline of cognitive capability, eventually leading to impairment in ability to undertake daily activities, results in dementia patients often needing to rely on support from their family members. This in turn increases stress on their caregivers.

4 In supporting patients with dementia and their caregivers, we need to move away from a disease-oriented approach to a whole-person approach that looks not just at the individual’s needs but also at the caregivers’ needs. This can only be achieved if there is an integrated care delivery model that links resources at the primary, community and hospital settings. The care model must transcend the healthcare sector to include social agencies and other community partners. Before stepping into this room, we discussed and acknowledged there are problems but I am sure we can find solutions to linking the the Ministry of Health, the People’s Association, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports and other service providers in the community.

Prevention, Early Detection & Management

5 What can we do to reduce the burden of dementia?  Firstly, we should try to reduce the risk factors of dementia and delay the onset of dementia where possible. These include staying physically and mentally active, eating healthily, quitting unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking and being socially engaged.  This is where the network with other service providers in the community will be useful.

6 The Health Promotion Board’s campaign to raise awareness of dementia has helped but we need to continue to raise dementia awareness in order that patients receive early diagnosis and their symptoms are better managed.

7 Recognising the early signs of dementia can make a key difference to the individual's quality of life and also allows the family to make care arrangements for the person. The management of dementia patients goes beyond the use of drugs and includes counselling and social support services.

Integrated care delivery model for persons with dementia

8 We have been progressively investing more resources to enable better integration of care across acute tertiary and community settings. We will continue to do so in the years to come.

Increasing access to dementia care

9 To increase the access to dementia care so that caregivers and persons with dementia can seek medical attention early, we have piloted community mental health teams for the elderly. Under the Community Psycho-Geriatric Programme, eldercare agencies help to pick up seniors with dementia early.  These outreach teams will also visit dementia patients in their homes to provide treatment if they are unable to access hospital or outpatient services.

10 In addition, the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) helps to oversee, coordinate and facilitate efforts in integrating acute care with intermediate and long-term care services for patients who no longer require acute care services but are unable to return to their own homes due to medical conditions.  Now, we are also looking at new models of dementia care such as partnerships between specialist memory clinics and General Practitioners.

Strengthening community facilities and support

11 The demands of taking care of a family member with dementia can be overwhelming and it is important that caregivers receive support. Today, Parliament will discuss how much support we can give to caregivers of elderly with different types of medical conditions. To this end, we will continue to strengthen community and caregiver respite services.

12 Currently, there are day care centres, including dedicated dementia day care centres which provide respite care to caregivers. For example, we have piloted a home and community respite service with the Alzheimer’s Disease Association. We are also working with MCYS to build up early dementia day-care programmes to keep patients mentally, physically, and socially engaged.  I am pleased to note that this year’s meeting has included a session to address support for caregivers.

Research

13 Research into methods of delaying and managing dementia is another vital prong in our strategy to tackling dementia.  Research findings when incorporated into health delivery models can potentially translate to a better quality of life for patients with dementia.  I note that over the next two days there will be poster and platform presentations of the various research projects that are being carried out in Singapore. This is encouraging and will hopefully help to inform clinical care as well as healthcare policy.

Conclusion

14 I would like to urge our clinical colleagues to support our move in scaling up efforts to enhance the care of dementia patients in the community. This could be in the form of either collaboration between your various hospitals with the community or the development of new innovative models of care delivery leveraging on other community resources.  We have a common goal – to ensure better quality of life for all patients with dementia and their caregivers.

15 A co-ordinated and a multi-faceted approach will help to bring Singapore  closer to meeting the challenges of individuals suffering from dementia.

16 I am now pleased to declare the “2nd Singapore International Neurocognitive Symposium” officially open and I wish you a fruitful symposium ahead.