CHAMPS
to
Champion the
Elderly’s Health
CGH
launched Community Health Ambassador Programme for Seniors (CHAMPS)
on 3 Sept 2005. CGH
will be empowering these active elderly volunteers with
basic healthcare skills through the CHAMPS training
programme.
The volunteers learned to do simple health monitoring,
advocate a healthy lifestyle and help detect any condition
that may require treatment. The guest-of-honour, Dr Balaji
Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State for Health, officiated the
launch.
"Mr
T K Udairam, CGH CEO, said, “ CGH has always worked
with the community to promote good healthcare
for the elderly. About 40% of our patients
are the elderly and they often come to us
when they are very sick. With the ageing
population in Singapore, this will be
an increasing problem. We are pleased to
collaborate with MCYS and the VWOs
to introduce a national programme
that tackles the healthcare problems of the elderly through early
intervention."
The volunteers were trained by healthcare professionals
from CGH, Singapore National Eye Centre and National Dental
Centre over three days on 3 Sept, 17 Sept and 24 Sept. During
the course, they learnt various skills including how to use
the Snellen’s Chart for monitoring vision acuity
in the elderly, how
to pin prick and measure blood glucose and identify elderly
who are at risks of falls.
For this pilot phase, there were more than 120 participants.
They include staff and volunteers from 21 Senior Activity
Centres, Neighbourhood Links and Mutual Help Groups. These
include Moral Kaki Bukit Senior Activity Centre, Mei Ling (Lions)
Neighbourhood Link and Compass Welfare Foundation.
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These volunteers are usually
active in their community-based organisations, and
were nominated by their centres for the training.
73% of the volunteers are 50 years old and above
because people of the same generation relate better
to one another. The oldest CHAMPS volunteer, Mr Chan
Meng Ann, is 72 years old.
" I
like to volunteer because I can help the old people.
When they are happy, I’m happy. I don’t
think I am too old to volunteer because my health
is still good. I think it is my fortune to be healthy
enough to help the elderly even though I’m
old myself,” said Mr Chan who volunteers
at
Mei Ling (Lions)
Neighbourhood Link. "
After the training, volunteers
will be armed with the skills and knowledge to incorporate
health-monitoring procedures as part of their health
promotion and outreach programmes
for the elderly population.
With these new skills and knowledge, each of them will be working with their
parent organisation to reach out to 10 or more senior citizens in their community.
Eventually these pioneer health ambassadors will keep an eye on the healthcare
needs of nearly 1000 senior citizens throughout Singapore during this pilot
phase.
CHAMPS is co-organised by CGH, Singapore National Eye Centre, National Dental
Centre, St Hilda’s Community Services and Lion’s Home for the Elders.
It is supported by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports
and is part of the Active Seniors Programme. |
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