Caring for the elderly: Brahm Centre inks agreement with TTSH to train more students

SINGAPORE – Fourteen interns from NorthLight School spent their time in hospital, learning the basics of primary care for the elderly, under a scheme pioneered by mental health charity Brahm Centre and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

Now, the effort is growing.

On Aug 13, both institutions agreed to develop a more structured and sustained programme, where the centre prepares and supports the participants and the hospital provides workplace learning and guidance. The aim is to offer placement in the next three years to students who are interested in exploring careers in healthcare.

Angie Chew, founder and chief executive officer of Brahm Centre, said: “We want to teach the young the soft skills – how to socially connect with people by showing compassion and forging bonds with others.”

Under the TTSH Para-Nursing Volunteer Programme, students learn basic caregiving and para-clinical skills to assist nurses, support patient recovery, and lighten ward workloads at the TTSH Integrated Care Hub.

Unlike other volunteer initiatives, this one equips them with caregiving skills through on-the-job training with “nurse buddies”, and training that is specific to the programme.

Students care for patients recovering from surgery or undergoing rehabilitation after conditions such as strokes. They help with everyday tasks including teeth brushing, feeding, changing diapers, replacing bed linen, and transferring patients between beds and wheelchairs.

Although they are not allowed to perform procedures such as wound dressing or bathing patients, they assist nurses by anticipating the patients’ needs and supporting them during treatments.

Wee Fong Chi, deputy director of nursing at TTSH, said: “As nurses, we saw how the programme made an impact on the students.

“They started out unsure, only taking instructions from the nurses, but within eight weeks, they became proactive in carrying out chores, and we could see them bloom and become motivated.”

Both Chew and Wee were particularly proud that after the stint, a few students wanted to make healthcare a career – with some even applying to the Institute of Technical Education to pursue nursing and allied health.

Chew said: “Through the Para-Nursing Volunteer Programme, the students were able to build confidence and relate with patients. I believe these are the soft skills that AI (artificial intelligence) would not be able to replace.”

The memorandum of understanding was signed during the official opening of Brahm Centre@Labrador, the latest outfit of the charity whose mission is to promote happier and healthier living.

The Labrador centre, the charity’s 10th, marks an extension of accessible, community-based support for mental well-being in Singapore’s west.

The 4,000 sq ft community well-being space, located on the second floor of Yeo’s Building in Telok Blangah, started operations in January, providing ongoing programmes such as art, health talks, exercises and activities for migrant domestic workers on Sundays.

In his speech at the launch, Senior Minister of State for Health Tan Kiat How said building a mentally healthy society is not simply about providing good healthcare, but about “helping people stay mentally well, supporting them before challenges become crises, and creating communities where people feel connected, supported and able to navigate life’s ups and downs with confidence”.

Tan, who is also Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, said community organisations like Brahm Centre complement Singapore’s healthcare system by making support more accessible, more approachable and closer to where people live their daily lives, a direction that the Republic has been moving towards over the last 20 years.

Retiree Jessie Tham, 66, is someone who has benefited from Brahm Centre’s philosophy of mindfulness-based stress reduction.

Tham, who used to work in finance, suffered a tear in her aorta while holidaying in Malta in December 2018, which affected the nerves in her spine.

In constant pain, she was on several medications until she attended a mindfulness programme at Brahm Centre and took up decoupage, which involves gluing paper cut-outs to a surface and sealing them with multiple layers of varnish.

“That took my mind off the pain, and I was beginning to understand the concept of mindfulness,” she said.

“The ‘aha’ moment came when I saw Angie (Chew) constantly walking on the yoga mat. I observed her technique and for the next seven days, I walked and the pain went away.”

She added: “With this non-striving mindset, I don’t need to rush my recovery process. I can now enjoy being where I am.”