Debated in Parliament on 21 Oct 2013.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Health (a) since 2012, what has been the progress in the implementation of suggestions mentioned in the National Mental Health Blueprint 2007-2012; and (b) whether the Ministry will follow up with a progression framework, taking into account the World Health Organisation's Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020.
We have made good progress over the past few years on the two key objectives of the National Mental Health Blueprint (NMHBP), which are to promote mental health and reduce the impact of mental disorders.
On mental health promotion, HPB has been conducting regular public education programmes to promote mental well-being among children, adults and seniors. In 2012, more than 50 initiatives and activities were organised in schools, workplaces and community settings, to reach out to students and members of the public6 .
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As patients who have medical conditions like stroke, diabetes, and cancer are at higher risk of developing mental health related issues, the public hospitals have set up programmes to integrate a mental health care component into the care plan of these patients. For example, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in NUH provides screening and support for women who have developed psychiatric conditions due to postnatal depression or gynaecologic cancers.
We have also strengthened the provision of mental health services in the community, so as to improve accessibility for people who need assessment. The hospitals have set up multidisciplinary teams with doctors, nurses and allied health professionals to provide clinical services in the community. We have also introduced programmes for family physicians and school counsellors to enable them to better manage mental health conditions. For example, The Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health (REACH) team led by IMH, KKH and NUH, in collaboration with MOE, is an early detection and intervention programme for schools. REACH is available to all mainstream schools and 20 special schools. In 2012, 849 students were referred to the REACH team for further assessment.
We have also built upon the initial mental health blueprint and introduced new initiatives to further enhance mental health care in the community. Under our new mental health plan in 2012, we started two pilot Assessment and Shared Care Teams (ASCAT) which are specialist-led multidisciplinary teams that manage the patients who have mental health issues in community-based settings, such as the polyclinic. We have also worked with VWOs7 to pilot Community Mental Health Intervention Teams (COMIT), which provide counselling and psychotherapy services to support ASCAT and our GP partners in caring for the mentally ill. The Agency for Integrated Care has also started working with senior activity centres to enable them to identify seniors with symptoms of dementia and depression, and refer them for early treatment. These new services will be expanded if found to be effective.
To strengthen the evidence-base for mental health, HPB, in collaboration with IMH, is working to translate the findings of recent mental health related studies to design more targeted public education programmes.
Our mental health plan is aligned to the recommendations of the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan, which are to provide services in community-based settings, improve mental health promotion and prevention activities, and strengthen research and the evidence base for mental health.
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Over the next few years, we will continue to implement the key elements in our new community-based mental health plan.
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