Speech by Parliamentary Secretary for Health, A/Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, at the Official Opening of the Singapore Programme for Integrated Care For the Elderly (SPICE) at Ling Kwang Home For Senior Citizens, 7 Jan 2013

Elder Kenneth Foong, Honorary Chairman of Ling Kwang Home

Mr Dennis Tan, CEO, Ling Kwang Home

Ladies and gentlemen

1. Good morning. I am very happy to be here to officiate at the opening of the SPICE centre today. I would like to congratulate Ling Kwang Home on this new milestone.

Need for SPICE

2. The demand for long term care will increase as our population ages. Apart from residential care facilities such as nursing homes, MOH is also keen to work with partners to develop non-residential care options for seniors who have high care needs but wish to be cared for in familiar surroundings by their families and loved ones.

3. The Singapore Programme for Integrated Care for the Elderly, or SPICE for short, is one such innovative model. Adapted from the US-based “Programme for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly¹”, the Agency for Integrated Care, AIC, has tailored it to meet the needs of our seniors in Singapore. SPICE provides a combination of both centre-based and home-based services, to help seniors that would otherwise have to be cared for in nursing homes, to remain in the community as far as possible. To do this, SPICE focuses on managing the senior’s multiple and complex care needs in a more integrated manner. This is through the provision of various services such as nursing, medical, rehabilitative, personal as well as custodial care as required by the seniors. A multi-disciplinary team of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals are closely supported by healthcare assistants, to tend to seniors’ daily care needs at both the centre and at the patients’ homes, depending on their needs.

4. The opening of the third SPICE Centre at Ling Kwang Home is a testament to the success of this care model, which has benefitted over 100 frail seniors with high care needs. Prior to Ling Kwang Home, the programme has been rolled out at two other centres – The Salvation Army’s Bedok Multi-Service Centre (BMSC) to serve seniors living in the East, and Sathya Sai Social Service (4S)’s Tembusu Rehab and Day Care Centre to serve those in the West. Preliminary results for seniors served in these two centres show that there is generally lower caregiver stress and higher patient satisfaction with the care arrangements in SPICE. We are glad that Ling Kwang Home has stepped forward to partner AIC to roll out SPICE to meet the growing demand in the central region of Singapore.

First Siting of SPICE in a Nursing Home

5. With capacity to cater to about 30 seniors at any time, LKH has already received more than 10 applications for their SPICE centre, of which three seniors have been officially enrolled following their medical assessments.

6. While it is still early days to measure success for SPICE at Ling Kwang Home, I am heartened to hear that the centre is off to a promising start based on the initial enrolment numbers. This is proof that setting up a SPICE Centre in the central region of Singapore is timely and much needed. By the year 2030, one in five Singaporeans will be 65 years old and above. Already, more than a third of the residents living in the central region of Singapore are aged 50 and above.

7. This is also the first time a SPICE Centre is set up within the premises of a nursing home. Ling Kwang Home has been faithfully caring for the seniors in this vicinity for the past 30 years, and has earned a reputation for providing quality care for its residents. This new co-location model will allow Ling Kwang Home to leverage on its rich expertise and resources in managing a nursing home, to at the same time provide quality communitybased care through SPICE. Such an arrangement also provides current residents in Ling Kwang Home an option to transit back into the community while continuing to receive a similar level of care provided through SPICE, which is in line with our ageing-in-place strategy. By continuing to take care of their patients under SPICE, Ling Kwang Home can build on the trust and relationships that the patients have established during their inpatient stay to enable a smooth transfer of patients and patient information across different settings.

Role of SPICE in Fostering Collaborations across the Healthcare System

8. The new SPICE Centre at Ling Kwang Home will work closely with hospitals including Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Ren Ci Community Hospital, Ang Mo Kio – Thye Hua Kwan Hospital, and AIC on patient assessment and referral to SPICE. These partnerships are mutually beneficial and allow each party to leverage on each other’s area of expertise. For instance, if Ling Kwang Home requires specialised training for its clinical staff, TTSH will be able to provide such training. In addition, physicians from TTSH will regularly visit Ling Kwang’s SPICE centre to monitor the health of the clients. In turn, the SPICE centre will serve as an additional option for the hospitals to discharge suitable patients back into the community for care. Such a trusted network of care providers will be beneficial for our seniors and will contribute to the continual development of community-based care in Singapore. Through the ramping up of institutional and non-institutional aged care facilities and services in the community, we hope to enable many more Singaporeans to age-in-place gracefully and successfully. 

Closing

9. In the coming years, AIC, with strong support from the Government, will continue its efforts to work with more Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) and other healthcare providers to develop more of such programmes like SPICE and provide a range of care options to cater for the diverse needs of seniors tomorrow. 

10. I would like to thank our partners for their commitment to deliver new models of care and better care outcomes for our seniors. I would also like to congratulate Ling Kwang Home on its opening of their SPICE Centre and wish them every success in its operations.

11. Thank you.

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¹ The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) provides comprehensive long term services and supports to Medicaid and Medicare enrollees in the US. An interdisciplinary team of health professionals provides individuals with coordinated care. For most participants, the comprehensive service package enables them to receive care at home rather than receive care in a nursing home.