NTUC Health’s Home Care team can support you and your loved ones from the comfort of home
About 1.5% of Singaporeans have sensory impairments and physical disabilities¹. Finances, health and access to quality care can affect how they live and age.
Your household may have someone who is recovering at home from an unfortunate accident, a stroke or a spinal cord injury. You or your loved one may also be living with genetic disorders such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and other medical conditions that may make it hard to move about and live independently.
There will definitely be times he or she needs help with daily activities while you are away, or when the primary caregiver is on a break. In these instances, caregivers can seek Home Care support to ensure the experience of caring for loved ones at home becomes more manageable.
Read on to find out more about how we can help, or jump to the following sections:
Help with day-to-day tasks
Debilitating health conditions such as stroke, or Parkinson's can result in types of physical disabilities including paralysis, loss of strength, balance and coordination. In such cases, loved ones require extra help with daily activities.
These may include going out of the house for groceries or basic self-care tasks like toileting, showering and preparing a meal. Our Care Associates also help with turning your loved one to avoid bed sores, and simple bed-bound exercises to improve blood flow in the limbs. Alongside companionship, our dedicated and friendly team of Home Care Associates will ensure that the basic needs of your loved ones are well taken care of.
In summary, Home Care associates from NTUC Health can support you and your loved one through the following services from the comfort of your home:
- Showering or bed bath
- Meal preparation
- Grocery shopping
- Supervised physical exercises
- Escorting to medical appointments
- Mentally -stimulating activities, puzzles
Home Care Services: From $7.60 per hour, with up to 80% subsidies available based on eligibility.
Nursing and post-hospitalisation care at home
Whether you need help with long-term nursing care at home, or short-term interim care while waiting for a domestic worker, we can help. Our team of private nurses can visit your loved one and provide post-hospital care to ensure they heal in familiar surroundings.
Our nurses are trained to administer medication, change feeding tubes and female urinary catheters and manage medication intake, especially for patients recovering from stroke, or living with late-stage Parkinson's disease.
If your loved one is recovering from a recent surgery, our nurses can also visit to provide wound care, remove stitches and staples, and clean stomas.
Home Nursing: From $9.80 per visit, with up to 80% subsidies available based on eligibility.
See a doctor from the comfort of home with Home Medical services
Check-ups and consultations
If an elderly loved one is bedridden or unable to leave the house, they may need extra help to see a doctor. Plan ahead for regular checkups from our doctors right in the comfort of your home with our Home Medical services. Prescriptions from our doctors are accepted at polyclinics and selected specialist outpatient clinics in Singapore.
Home Medical: From $58.80 per visit, with up to 80% subsidies available based on eligibility.
Improve quality of life through rehabilitation
It is important for seniors to start on a specialised rehabilitation and therapy plan early, so that they lose minimal physical functions and can continue to stay independent, and retain their quality of life where possible. Our team of dedicated therapists can help your loved one with a rehabilitation plan that may consist of the following:
- Physiotherapy treatment and advice for persons afflicted with conditions that affect mobility and strength, such as muscular dystrophy, stroke, Parkinson's
- Exercises and training to improve mobility, muscle tone and reduce the risk of falling
- Occupational therapy to help patients get better with performing independent tasks such as feeding, toileting and chores.
- Training patients how to use assistive equipment such as crutches, frames and wheelchairs so they can move about
- Speech therapy to train patients on how to swallow food and drinks and minimise the risk of choking, as well as improve ability to engage in conversation and express their needs
While some health conditions such as Parkinson's or muscular dystrophy cannot be reversed, rehabilitation and therapy can help to preserve physical functions for as long as possible.
Home Therapy: From $32.30 per visit, with up to 80% subsidies available based on eligibility.
Speak to our occupational therapists for advice on home modifications to help your loved one move about safely.
Get financial assistance
If your family requires financial help with caregiving at home, there are a number of grants and subsidies available. The Home Caregiving Grant (HCG) is one of them. Administered by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), HCG was known as the Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) Grant before October 2019. From early 2023, applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will get either a doubling of the grant from the current $200 to $400 or an increase of the grant to S$250. This helps to offset the cost of caregiving expenses such as hiring a foreign domestic worker, or engaging elderly care services.
To be eligible for HCG, one of the criteria is that the care recipient is unable to perform at least three of the Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). ADLs include washing, toileting, dressing, feeding, mobility, and transferring.
Our MOH-accredited doctors, nurses and therapists can help you complete a Functional Assessment Report to certify whether your loved one is capable in performing his/her ADLs. If you would like to obtain a Functional Assessment Report (FAR), make an appointment with our Family Medicine Clinic.
The FAR can also help you in your application for other grants**. A number of these may require you to go through the Ministry of Health’s means-testing to ascertain your eligibility.
Disability Assessment: $250 nett.
Summary
Get the support you need for your loved ones to lead a fulfilling and healthy life at home. Call 6715 6715 or visit our page at NTUC Health Home Care.
**CareShield Life, ElderShield, Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Concession for Persons with Disabilities, ElderFund, Pioneer Generation Disability Scheme, Medisave Withdrawal for Long-Term Care, Interim Disability Assistance Programme for the Elderly, Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund, and Enhancement for Active Seniors programme.
