Thye Hua Kwan (THK) Bedok Radiance Senior Activity Centre has provided an avenue for severely intellectually disabled and partially blind Mr Khoo You Seng, 53, to interact with other able-bodied senior citizens and adults with disabilities like himself. THK provides a series of activities and outings to keep Mr Khoo engaged.
Things have changed over the past decade as the Government drives a push to improve the lives of disabled adults, amid the effort to build a more inclusive society.
What plans are in the pipeline? Why this new emphasis on helping adults with disabilities? Which areas can be improved?
BEEFING UP HELP
During the Budget debate in March 2017, several initiatives were announced by Minister for Social and Family Development Tan Chuan-Jin to improve the lives of this group, from boosting their employment prospects to providing more support to caregivers.
The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) reported that three new homes for adults with disabilities will be set up in the next three years, which can accommodate 700 more residents. For now, the average wait for a place in a home ranges from six to nine months.
The ministry also plans to increase the number of places in Day Activity Centres that provides care and skills training to disabled adults. It is also working with the Ministry of Health (MOH) to explore areas of cooperation in the healthcare and social sectors to better serve people with disabilities.
These Day Activity Centres are important for many adults with disabilities, as it allows them to be equipped with skills in order to integrate back into the community. Take for example, Mr Muhammad Arif Mohamed, who was featured in a related article, ‘more places in daycare centres’.
Mr Arif Mohamed has intellectual disability, and therefore he cannot count, tell the time and adequately express himself. But he has become a lot more independent after going to a training and development centre run by a charity, the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS), for the past decade. Mr Arif Mohamed is taught daily living skills such as how to take public transport and buy food. His mother is happy that he is more independent now.
Now, there are 25 such centres offering more than 1,300 places – up from just 870 places in 2010.
MSF reported that “more centres are expected” next year, ramping up the number of places to 1,800.
An MSF spokesman says the new centres will cater to people with different types of disabilities, including autism. With the growing number of children diagnosed with autism, there is a shortage of places for them in such centres after they finish their schooling.
There is also the difficulty of hiring manpower. The job involves attending to the disabled people’s every need, including cleaning up after them, and not many Singaporeans are keen.
FOCUS ON ADULTS
Education and support services for people with disabilities have taken a leap forward since the First Enabling Masterplan, a national blueprint for disability policies and programmes, was launched in 2007.
There are three masterplans in total that sets out Singapore’s vision to make the country a better place for those with disabilities, and propose ways to achieve this. Before that, services for people with disabilities were largely initiated by charities, were a lot more piecemeal and had much less resources. The Third Enabling Masterplan is from 2017 to 2021.
Since 2004, the Government has pumped in a lot more resources and has been driving the development of these new services.
There is a growing desire among Singaporeans to empower those with disabilities and to provide opportunities for them to become integral and contributing members of society.
This is much so as with medical advances, people with disabilities are living longer lives. Their parents are also ageing, and smaller families means that there may not be a loved one able or willing to look after them.
There is also a growing number of children diagnosed with developmental problems such as autism and speech and language delays. 4000 children was diagnosed in 2015, a 60 per cent jump from 2010.
An estimated 3.4 per cent of the resident population aged between 18 and 49 have disabilities. The number rises to 13.3 per cent for those aged 50 and older. As one ages, the chances of becoming disabled increase through stroke and other illnesses.
WORK, PLAY AND CARE
SPD, a charity serving those with disabilities, is also seeing younger Singaporeans in their 30s and 40s becoming paralysed after a stroke or road accident.
In 2014, SPD started a programme to help this group rejoin the workforce through intensive therapy, job matching and job support services. It had about 100 clients on this programme last year, and about half of them were able to find work, a figure which it finds “very encouraging”.
In the next related article, ‘special support at work’, it featured Mr Benson Tan, 26 years old, who is one of the 30 staff members with intellectual disabilities working in Uniqlo, a Japanese fashion retailer. Mr Tan is in charge of unpacking clothes and hanging them on racks. He has been working in Uniqlo for three years and said that he is happy working in the store, as his manager and colleagues are kind and accommodating.
Mr Tan’s mother Mimi Tan, 66, says Uniqlo has been a supportive employer and lets Mr Tan work part-time to accommodate his other interest – competitive swimming. Mr Tan trains twice a day and has won medals at the Asean ParaGames.
A Uniqlo spokesman says: “We should not underestimate the capability of people with intellectual disabilities. There are areas in which these individuals can really do well, if they are given support and a push in the right direction.”
Without doubt, government incentives have played a big part in boosting their employability.
For example, the Special Employment Credit was introduced in 2012 to support firms that hire people with disabilities earning $4,000 and below a month. The Government will subsidise up to 16 per cent of the disabled employee’s wages, up to $240 a month.
From the time the scheme was started until December 2016, $59 million in credit has been given to employers of about 10,000 people with disabilities.
SG Enable, a non-profit agency set up by the MSF in 2013, has placed more than 1,200 people with disabilities in jobs in the past three years. They found work in the retail, food and beverage, IT and other sectors. Those in the resident workforce now make up 0.6 per cent, or about 12,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents.
In the past five years, new initiatives have also been started for adults with disabilities. For example, in 2013, the Drop-In Disability Programme, which Mr Khoo attends, was piloted in four senior activity centres run by THK. The service is free for clients.
LONG TERM CARE A PROBLEM
In 2014, the MSF piloted a home-based care service to bring therapy and personal care to the home-bound who are unable to use centre-based services due to the severity of their disability.
Take for example, Awwa, which is a charity serving people with disabilities. In another related article, ‘bringing care, therapy to homes’, it featured Mr Muhammad Idham Fayumi Ruslan, 28, who was diagnosed with mucopolysaccharidosis, a metabolic disorder that affects different parts of the body, and his muscles are wasting away. Mr Idham has to use a wheelchair, and his sight and hearing are deteriorating.
Two to three times a week, staff from Awwa visit Mr Idham at his home for physiotherapy and other therapy sessions, to prevent his muscles from weakening even more.
The home-based care service is subsidised by the Government, up to 80 per cent of the fees for the lowest-income group.
Mr Idham’s father, housekeeping supervisor Ruslan Japar, 68, says: “It’s very sad to see my son in this condition but at least the Awwa staff come and help him strengthen his muscles and talk to him. He is not so bored and is very excited to go for the outings.”
Watch the video below to hear Mr Idham’s story:
The number of places in homes for adults with disabilities who need long-term care is still lacking. Their parents may have passed away, or too old and frail to care for them and their siblings cannot help.
Hence, MSF will build three more homes in the next three years.
In Sengkang, St. Andrew’s Autism Centre is now building Singapore’s first home for people with autism. It is one of the three new homes coming up. It is expected to be ready by 2019 and can house up to 200 residents.
Another new home in Sembawang will be operated by THK, and details for the third home are not available yet.
With land and manpower constraints, there are limits to the number of new homes that can be built.
Perhaps there should be new models for residential living, instead of the current one where homes (for persons with disabilities) are segregated from the community. Alternatively, grow the home-based services to support the home-bound, so that they can continue to live at home for as long as possible.
Read more about the main article here.
Source: The Straits Times, 14 May 2017