Free health and dental screening services in Jurong
Published: 27 Oct 2017
Some 1,100 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents age 40 years old and above were screened for frailty, mental and oral health as well as chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease and various cancers, at a free comprehensive health screening on 21 and 22 October 2017.
Organised by students of NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine (NUS Medicine), and involving their fellow students from Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Social Work, Nanyang Technological University’s Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Duke-NUS Medical School, as well as volunteer doctors, the annual Public Health Service (PHS) aims to promote good community health through preventive measures, and spread awareness of the need and ways of looking after one’s health through education programmes.
Into its 12th year, the PHS has benefited more than 17,000 residents in neighbourhoods such as Toa Payoh and Clementi since 2004.
Starting with four screening components, the health screening has since expanded its scope to include geriatric screening and mental health in recent years. This year, the new screening modalities include mental health screening for dementia and depression for people age 60 years old and above, as well as consultation and registration for social support services to residents in need of financial help.
“Over the past few years, we have found out that it is not enough to screen for purely physical ailments. Mental health is a huge component of healthcare, which affects a person’s physical health and his ability and willingness to keep healthy, and it also inflicts stress on caregivers as well. Dementia and depression are increasingly recognized as huge healthcare problems among the elderly. This should be detected early so that timely management can be implemented,” said Ms Sarah Tham, Co-director of PHS 2017.
“We hope that our screening exercise this year is comprehensive enough to cover the various aspects of health – not just physical health, but also mental and socio-economic health,” she added.
In a move to be more inclusive to persons with disabilities, PHS 2017 was wheelchair-friendly for the first time, and the event also provided volunteer support for persons with disabilities, and sign language translation services for the deaf.
“Promoting health, spreading awareness – this is essentially what we aim to do. We hope that through our education efforts, health screening and follow-up, we can play our part in encouraging health-seeking behaviours, one community at a time,” said Ms Tham.
In recent years, PHS has also strengthened its follow-up processes, by working with primary care providers from the National University Health System’s partner clinics in the Jurong area to provide free first consultations to identified participants with abnormal blood test and blood pressure results. Volunteers in the “Telehealth programme” subsequently call participants to encourage them to attend the free consultations.
In addition to secondary prevention (preventing the progression of disease) through the health screening, PHS has evolved to champion primary prevention (preventing the onset of disease) through health education.
In line with the War on Diabetes, volunteers conduct door-to-door education on diabetes for residents. And through school assembly talks and mentorship programmes, the PHS’ Young Health Ambassadors’ Programme (YHAP) also seeks to empower youths to become health ambassadors, who can promote healthy lifestyle changes in their families and communities.
“The Public Health Service is a student-led initiative that helps to nurture competent, compassionate, creative, community-responsive and innovative doctors and nurses as well as allied health professionals of tomorrow. The services provided also enable the students to apply the skills they have learnt with competence to help residents in maintaining and improving their health,” said Associate Professor Lau Tang Ching, Vice-Dean for Education at NUS Medicine.
The event was launched by Associate Professor Benjamin Ong, Director of Medical Services at the Ministry of Health on 21 October 2017.
See Press Release.
