Trend of Hiring of Professional Care-giving Help for Elderly in Past Three Years and Plans for Review of Subsidies and Eligibility for Home Caregiving Grant

NOTICE PAPER NO. 418
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 10 MAY 2021
 

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Yip Hon Weng
MP for Yio Chu Kang SMC
 

Question No. 712
 

To ask the Minister for Health (a) over the past three years, what has been trend for hiring of professional caregiving help for the elderly; and (b) whether the Ministry plans to do a review of subsidies and eligibility for the Home Caregiving Grant.

Answer
 
      The Ministry of Health has a range of professional services that provide caregiving help. These include day care services (including dementia day care), Integrated Home and Day Care (IHDC)[1], Home Personal Care (HPC)[2], Home Palliative Care, Day Hospice, and short-term respite care[3] such as nursing home respite and centre-based weekend respite services.  Formal healthcare workers are deployed in these services to care for seniors.

2     There has been an upward trend in utilisation of these services, from 17,000 in 2018 to close to 19,000 in 2019.  However, there was a decline in utilisation to an average of 12,000 across Q1-Q32020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3     MOH continually reviews our schemes and services to ensure that they meet care needs of our seniors.  This includes the Home Caregiving Grant which was introduced in 2019 and provides a $200 monthly payout to eligible individuals with permanent moderate disability living in the community.  Families who need further help with caregiving services and support can approach the Agency for Integrated Care for further assistance.

[1] IHDC is a pilot programme that helps seniors age in place by giving them the flexibility to receive home-based care services, centre-based care services, or a combination of both, depending on their care needs.
[2] HPB provides seniors with care in areas such as assistance with Activities of Daily Living (for example, showering and feeding), elder-sitting, as well as cognitive stimulating activities
[3] Include nursing home and centre-based weekend respite care services, and night respite, home-based respite, and Go Respite (for quick activation of respite care) pilot programmes.