Singapore Hospice Council and Mountbatten grassroots groups give food packs to over 100 caregivers

Beyond her daily work as a semi-retired cleaner, 70-year-old Huang Qiuxia also devotes herself to caring for a family member who has a restricted diet due to dental issues. Like her, many family caregivers in the Mountbatten neighbourhood quietly shoulder the dual toll of physical and emotional strain.

Ahead of “World Compassionate Communities Day” on 1 November, the Singapore Hospice Council (SHC) joined Mountbatten grassroots organisations, The Local Farm and corporate partners to organise Harvest Forward, an initiative to support caregivers. Through on-site distribution and home deliveries, more than 130 caregivers in the constituency received Farmpacks containing fresh produce. The distribution event was held at Mountbatten Community Club.

The initiative brought together healthcare institutions, Grassroots Organisations (GROs), farms and businesses to show caregivers that the community cares and that they are not alone in their caregiving responsibilities.

Huang, who was receiving a Farmpack for the first time, said in an interview that the fresh vegetables were everyday necessities and a great help in preparing daily meals.

In her view, caregivers need more than material support; they also need understanding and a listening ear from the community. She said that the most important thing is listening to what they have to say. For caregivers, “listening to them is what’s important”.

Speaking about the “invisible” pressures caregivers face, Adviser to Mountbatten GROs Gho Sze Kee said in an interview that caring for family members often leaves caregivers physically and emotionally exhausted, sometimes to the point of neglecting themselves

Gho, who is also the MP for Mountbatten, stressed: “Asking for help does not mean that you love your loved ones less. It means that loving yourself enables you to take care of your loved ones even better.”

Gho said support in Mountbatten is guided primarily by families’ actual needs, rather than strict means-testing alone. Through volunteers’ home visits, visits to wakes and referrals from neighbours, grassroots groups identify families in need early and provide help tailored to their circumstances, so that caregivers who need support are not overlooked.

In addition, Mountbatten GROs are working with Beatty Secondary School and Chung Cheng High School (Main) on a life care skills programme, teaching young people the basics of caregiving and nurturing empathy for the elderly.

Singapore Hospice Council Executive Director Sim Bee Hia noted that much of the support currently available to caregivers focuses on skills training. “But we just want to recognise caregivers as caregivers, and appreciate their role and the duties that they do on a daily basis,” she said.

She also urged the public to be more attentive to the needs of those around them. Whether it is a colleague returning from compassionate leave or a neighbour caring for an ill family member, a word of concern or a little understanding can offer emotional support.

Sim Bee Hia said: “We see palliative care as everyone’s business, whether it is a colleague who has just returned from compassionate leave or a neighbour struggling as a caregiver, or who has even given up struggling. Simply taking the initiative to find out how they are, letting them know you are there and recognising their role as caregivers can offer the most precious gift of all: the gift of presence.”