Singapore plans to to finalize home care guidelines (TODAY Online)
A set of home care developmental guidelines has been developed by a workgroup of home care service providers and will be finalized by the end of this year, Senior Minister of State (Health and Manpower) Dr Amy Khor told Parliament on Tuesday.
A quality improvement program will also be introduced by the Ministry of Health (MOH) next year to help the providers adopt these guidelines, which have been developed to enhance the quality of services and articulate the expected level of care.
“These home-care guidelines include good practices, such as to better enable them to coordinate care, enhance quality of care, promote independence, as well as encourage organisational excellence. These guidelines have been drafted and it is under consultations with stakeholders,” Dr Khor said.
Plans to draw up the guidelines were first announced under the Home Care Development Plan earlier this year, as part of the MOH’s Budget Initiatives 2014 to provide better home and community care for senior citizens. The development plan also includes making home care more integrated and client-centric, and continuing to invest in expanding home-based care services.
