(This story is from our archives of NextStep Magazine. The Magazine has since been renamed to AIC With You)

A senior who needed help to manage her daily routine received timely assistance from Peacehaven Bedok. Find out how they did it.

Madam Lim Miau Chew, 67, has been going to Peacehaven Multi- Service Centre (MSC) every weekday since she was referred to the centre by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) last year.

She receives day care services as she has multiple medical conditions, including Parkinson’s disease. When she failed to show up at the centre one day, the staff got worried and paid a house visit. Madam Lim had been unwell. That was when they realised she was having trouble maintaining order in her home.

“Clothes were strewn all over the place. Food items were in a mess and some were already rotten or expired,” recalls Peacehaven Bedok MSC’s Senior Staff Nurse Melanie Magnaye. “We also found a few months’ worth of medication that were left untouched, as seen from their discolouration,” she adds.

All-in-one package

Madam Lim lives with her daughter, who is in her 30s and has an intellectual disability. While Madam Lim wished to stay with her daughter in their home, her medical needs and her daughter’s condition made it difficult for both ladies to take care of themselves.

Upon realising this, Peacehaven Bedok MSC stepped in under AIC's pilot Integrated Home and Day Care (IHDC) Package. This package is a bundle of home and day care services that are tailored to the specific needs of a senior. Apart from providing Madam Lim with day care services at the centre, Peacehaven Bedok MSC took charge of her medication management and monitored her health. They also arranged for meal deliveries to her home on weekends, as well as a cleaning service to tidy up her home once a week.

This package ensures that Madam Lim is able to receive care not just when she is at the centre, but while at home. On top of Madam Lim’s care requirements, centre staff also taught her daughter how to do some household chores so that she can take better care of her mother at home.

More importantly, while Madam Lim is getting her exercise on weekdays, her daughter helps with some light work at the centre. Both women also get their meals there. For the elderly lady, who has cared for her daughter for so long, this gives her peace of mind. “I’m grateful to the centre, and to the staff who helped me,” says Madam Lim. “My house is cleaner, they tidied up the medicines in my house, and my daughter is able to do some work here (in the centre).”

Tailored to every care need

Currently, Peacehaven Bedok MSC has about 90 clients under the IHDC package. A team consisting of a registered nurse, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist and a social worker will assess and discuss how much help their client needs.

Explains Peacehaven Bedok MSC Senior Staff Nurse Agnes Chan: “When coming up with a package, we consider factors such as basic care needs, mobility and social issues. For example, do they have any family member who can take care of them at home? Are their family members capable of helping with care needs such as showering, diaper change or test-tube feeding?”

“After all, care doesn’t end when our clients leave our centre for the day. How will they be cared for at night, in their own homes?”

Helping Families

The centre therefore plays an important role in supporting families who are caring for their loved ones at home. “Sometimes, caregivers simply do not have the time to provide dedicated care, due to work or other family commitments. That’s when we take over and help to support them as much as possible,” says Ms Chan.

Both Ms Magnaye and Ms Chan see first-hand how their clients benefit from receiving care near their homes. Ms Magnaye observes: “They can go back to their own homes at the end of the day. They can still be around their family and feel the love and care, which is extremely important.”

“We try as much as possible to take our clients out on visits to the nearby coffeeshop and market,” says Ms Chan. “That’s why they are very happy here and they really look forward to coming to the centre, because they can be out and about in their own community.”