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After what has happend to her dad, she is on her quest to help everyone of their mental problems!!
$35m for mental health
New programmes to be tried out to teach people to stay mentally healthy
By Lee Hui Chieh
THE Government will pump $35 million over the next three years into programmes to improve Singaporeans' mental health and prevent more from developing mental illnesses.
This is on top of the $88 million it committed to such programmes in 2007, to be spent over five years.
$35m to improve mental health
The extra sum will be used to scale up pilot programmes that aim to teach people how to stay mentally healthy, and those which detect and treat mental illnesses early.
The Government has accepted the recommendations of the National Mental Health Working Group which was formed in 2007.
The workgroup is headed by Permanent Secretary (Health) Yong Ying-I and has 35 members from agencies including the Defence, Education, Health, Home Affairs, Manpower, and Community Development, Youth and Sports ministries.
The workgroup recommended strengthening existing efforts by various agencies, and coordinating them.
Releasing the recommendations at a press conference yesterday, Ms Yong said: 'It's about saying, can we be more effective together than working separately? So that with one plus one, instead of getting two, you get 11.'
Among the pilots that the workgroup wants to expand is the Reach programme, which aims for early detection and treatment of mental conditions in students.
The pilot, which ran from August 2007 to last month, involved training 148 school counsellors and 32 general practitioners to recognise danger signs and treat them.
They could call a helpline for advice, manned by the Reach team of 14 mental health professionals from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), including doctors, nurses, psychologists and therapists.
Students who needed specialist care were fast-tracked, so they were seen at IMH within a week or two of referral instead of months.
About 100 schools - one in four primary and secondary schools, and junior colleges here - were involved in the pilot.
So far, the Reach team has advised counsellors on 659 cases, and has been referred 93 students, of whom 70 per cent have already shown improvement after six months.
School counsellor Julia Goh said: 'With the training, I'm more alert to cases of mental conditions like depression, and I feel more equipped to deal with them. And any time I need help, it's just a call away.'
The plan now is to create three more Reach teams to serve all other schools and voluntary groups that take care of young people by 2011, said the programme's director, Dr Daniel Fung.
A parallel programme will be started for students from the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics and universities.
Another pilot to be expanded is a series of Health Promotion Board (HPB) workshops and talks on coping skills and building self-esteem for seniors called Nurture Your Mind for Older Persons. About 1,650 seniors aged 50 and above took part in the pilot, which began last April. HPB hopes to reach 10,000 more this year.
By 2010, all public agencies will start Treasure Your Mind for their staff. These are HPB workshops for adults on improving mental well-being and helping others in need.
Ten companies have also formed the iCare Mental Health Alliance, led by the Singapore Exchange's chief executive Hsieh Fu Hua. The alliance has identified 10 practices to promote employees' mental well-being, which members will implement in their workplaces by this year-end. Other firms will be roped in.
Ms Yong said: 'With the downturn, many may focus their attention on other areas. But the irony is, it's precisely at a time like this, that they have to pay attention to psychological or emotional trauma that employees go through.'
[email protected]
$35m for mental health
New programmes to be tried out to teach people to stay mentally healthy
By Lee Hui Chieh
THE Government will pump $35 million over the next three years into programmes to improve Singaporeans' mental health and prevent more from developing mental illnesses.
This is on top of the $88 million it committed to such programmes in 2007, to be spent over five years.
$35m to improve mental health
The extra sum will be used to scale up pilot programmes that aim to teach people how to stay mentally healthy, and those which detect and treat mental illnesses early.
The Government has accepted the recommendations of the National Mental Health Working Group which was formed in 2007.
The workgroup is headed by Permanent Secretary (Health) Yong Ying-I and has 35 members from agencies including the Defence, Education, Health, Home Affairs, Manpower, and Community Development, Youth and Sports ministries.
The workgroup recommended strengthening existing efforts by various agencies, and coordinating them.
Releasing the recommendations at a press conference yesterday, Ms Yong said: 'It's about saying, can we be more effective together than working separately? So that with one plus one, instead of getting two, you get 11.'
Among the pilots that the workgroup wants to expand is the Reach programme, which aims for early detection and treatment of mental conditions in students.
The pilot, which ran from August 2007 to last month, involved training 148 school counsellors and 32 general practitioners to recognise danger signs and treat them.
They could call a helpline for advice, manned by the Reach team of 14 mental health professionals from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), including doctors, nurses, psychologists and therapists.
Students who needed specialist care were fast-tracked, so they were seen at IMH within a week or two of referral instead of months.
About 100 schools - one in four primary and secondary schools, and junior colleges here - were involved in the pilot.
So far, the Reach team has advised counsellors on 659 cases, and has been referred 93 students, of whom 70 per cent have already shown improvement after six months.
School counsellor Julia Goh said: 'With the training, I'm more alert to cases of mental conditions like depression, and I feel more equipped to deal with them. And any time I need help, it's just a call away.'
The plan now is to create three more Reach teams to serve all other schools and voluntary groups that take care of young people by 2011, said the programme's director, Dr Daniel Fung.
A parallel programme will be started for students from the Institute of Technical Education, polytechnics and universities.
Another pilot to be expanded is a series of Health Promotion Board (HPB) workshops and talks on coping skills and building self-esteem for seniors called Nurture Your Mind for Older Persons. About 1,650 seniors aged 50 and above took part in the pilot, which began last April. HPB hopes to reach 10,000 more this year.
By 2010, all public agencies will start Treasure Your Mind for their staff. These are HPB workshops for adults on improving mental well-being and helping others in need.
Ten companies have also formed the iCare Mental Health Alliance, led by the Singapore Exchange's chief executive Hsieh Fu Hua. The alliance has identified 10 practices to promote employees' mental well-being, which members will implement in their workplaces by this year-end. Other firms will be roped in.
Ms Yong said: 'With the downturn, many may focus their attention on other areas. But the irony is, it's precisely at a time like this, that they have to pay attention to psychological or emotional trauma that employees go through.'
[email protected]
