New guide to help people provide mental health support in their communities

SINGAPORE – Groups that would like to set up “well-being circles” to offer mental health support in their communities can now refer to a how-to guide that outlines best practices and takeaways from existing circles.

Available for download on the SG Mental Well-Being Network’s LinkedIn page, the new guide was announced by Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth Alvin Tan on Nov 16, at the Singapore Association for Mental Health’s (SAMH) YOUth Alive 2024 event at Our Tampines Hub.

At the event, Mr Tan said the support circles aim to reduce the stigma associated with mental health and mental well-being issues, raise awareness of these concerns and enable peers to provide appropriate and necessary support.

The new guide can help anyone who wants to set up such support circles to be able to do so easily, so that more of them will be available across Singapore, Mr Tan said.

“It is a very practical step on how to set one up and what you need to do to make it successful.”

Community well-being circles are a key component of the SG Mental Well-Being Network, which is chaired by Mr Tan, who is also Minister of State for Trade and Industry.

A national platform launched in 2022, the network connects citizens and partners such as social service agencies and mental health advocacy organisations to safeguard the mental health of people of all ages in Singapore.

It builds on the Youth Mental Well-Being Network, which was started in 2020 to strengthen the resilience of young people, including children and teenagers. 

Since 2022, more than 600 individuals have learnt peer support skills through well-being circles, which have used various programmes to reach more than 3,000 people.

There are now 12 unique well-being circles across Singapore that address the specific needs of each community.

These include youth-centric circles such as Project Re:ground @ Red Box, and one in the Yuhua area, where there is a rising concern for mental well-being among the elderly.

There are also more than 900 peer-support circles that the SG Mental Well-Being Network and its partners have run in workplaces and educational and healthcare institutions, Mr Tan said.

With mental health issues brought to the forefront as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, addressing these issues is a key priority of the Government.

The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) unveiled an online platform, Real (

https://realspace.sg

), on Nov 10 that encourages young people, including young working adults, to seek support for their mental well-being.

The initiative comes after an AIC study conducted in February found that four in 10 young people will search online for resources if they have not sought help for their mental health issues.

Real has mental health resources, such as stories from young people who share their mental health journeys, and where to find mental health support within the community, such as 24/7 hotlines, community outreach teams and counsellors.

The Institute of Mental Health’s National Youth Mental Health Study, whose results were released on Sept 19, also found that one in three young people in Singapore experiences severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress, noted SAMH vice-president Winston Ngan.

He was speaking at the YOUth Alive event, a biennial celebration dedicated to youth mental health.

“SAMH’s youth services have also observed a consistent trend of youth aged 17 to 21 years old seeking our services for the past two years,” said Mr Ngan, flagging an upward trend among younger teens aged 12 to 16, as well as more males, approaching SAMH for support.

Separately, AIC and the Ministry of Health Office for Healthcare Transformation have launched a Community Mental Health Wayfinding Tool (

https://mindline.sg/mental-health-service-providers/start

) to help users locate community mental health services within three clicks, based on their needs, age and postal address.