Enabling the Lower-Income Families with Young Children in the North-East with Multi Agency Case Management and Intervention Framework
Track Type: Symposium | Date: 19 October 2023, Thursday| Time: 1620 - 1645
Speaker: Ms Carolyn Chan Mei Fong
Poverty is one of the major social determinants that have negative effects on child health and development. It is associated with language and cognitive deficit, under and over nutrition and effects on child cognition within the first 2 years of life. These could be attributed to disruption of brain development, attachment, and early learning in addition to access and utilisation of healthcare that would otherwise allow for early recognition and intervention. It is not uncommon for low-income families to be faced with issues beyond financial constraints such as low education, single parenthood, physical and mental issues, criminal history and children themselves who may have health and behavioural issues extending into adulthood. In Singapore, the care provision for these vulnerable families is rather fragmented between the health, social and education sectors. Assistance scheme are frequently short term and mismatched against the time required for the vulnerable families to break out of the poverty cycle. Amidst the current landscape which is difficult to navigate and the intransigence of intergenerational poverty. In Oct 2022, funded by Ministry of Health, we have embarked on a program aimed at providing health-social-education multi-agency case management and intervention to the lower-income families. These agencies will provide a holistic and family centred care through which intransigent issues can be address at a systematic level for improved sustainability, moving beyond the provision of temporary assistance and relief to equipping and empowering self-efficacy and self-reliance.
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