Neighbourhood Health Service 2017
Published: 13 Sep 2017
Elderly residents of Eunos Crescent received free health screening from NUS medical, nursing and social work students on 9-10 Sept.
The student-led Neighbourhood Health Service (NHS) is an annual community health screening that focuses on the elderly and residents from lower income families living in rental blocks and reconnects them to the healthcare system. This is achieved through house-visits, follow-up phone calls, door-to-door and centralised health screenings.
The NHS reached out to over 400 residents at Eunos Crescent. Associate Professor Fatimah Lateef, Member of Parliament, Marine Parade GRC, and Mr Amrin Amin, Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs & Ministry of Health, Singapore, graced the event.
The screening took place at Eunos Crescent on 9-10 Sept, and the next screening will take place at Kampong Glam on October 7-8.
“The Neighbourhood Health Service exemplifies an activity that is student-led, and helps to nurture competent, compassionate, creative, community-responsive and innovative doctors and nurses of tomorrow,” said Associate Professor Lau Tang Ching, Vice-Dean of Education at NUS Medicine. “The services provided enable the students to apply the skills they have learnt with competence to help elderly residents in maintaining or improving their health. At the same time, reaching out to the community to meet the residents’ health needs fosters compassion and community-responsiveness in our students.”
Since its inception, the NHS has touched the lives of more than 4,000 rental block residents in eight rental districts in Singapore. From offering just three screening modalities in its inaugural screening, the NHS has expanded the scope of its screening to now offer more than 20 services, thus providing residents with a robust assessment of their health.
This year marks the first time that the NHS is screening Kampong Glam residents. The service has also been continuing its follow-up with residents in constituencies screened in previous years, including Bukit Merah, Marine Terrace (Breeze and Haven Zone) and Taman Jurong (Zone B and E), and intends to ensure that all residents under NHS’ purview are integrated into the healthcare system.
See press release.
News Coverage
