CAL In The Spotlight

Speaking Your Mind: Personal stories about mental health

NUS' Speaking Your Mind Project launched a collection of stories about mental health on 18 January 2020. Included are personal accounts by caregivers who have benefited from CAL's services. The eBook is available for online viewing.

Hugs and heartaches: Ageing parents stay strong despite challenges raising children with autism

An article by Channel NewsAsia on parents of autistic children features Jorah Mahmud, a caregiver who benefited from CAL's training programme when her son was admitted into the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). According to her, being able to share her experiences and to hear from others about their experiences was helpful.

Speech by Mr Edwin Tong, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law and Ministry of Health, at the Caregivers Charity Lunch 2019

Senior Minister of State Edwin Tong was the Guest-of-Honour at CAL's Charity Lunch 2019. His speech acknowledges the important role that caregivers play, and recognises CAL's efforts to form strong networks in the community through encouraging peer support and volunteering.

When Your Child Has OCD

Singapore has a higher prevalence of OCD than the global norm. In this The Straits Times article on youths in Singapore with OCD, Evelyn (staff at CAL and a caregiver to her son) shares about the improvement in her family situation after attending the C2C programme.

Help is Within Reach

In AIC’s feature on caregiving resources and respite care, CAL’s Caregivers-to-Caregivers Training Programme (C2C) is featured with the story of 24-year-old CAL staff and caregiver Ms Hidayah. With over 200 caregiver training courses by more than 60 training providers, CAL is one of the few Community Care partners that offers free caregiving courses. 

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The C2C Training Programme and Hidayah's story were featured in: 

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/help-is-within-reach

https://www.beritaharian.sg/setempat/khidmat-warga-tua-jagaan-masyarakat-dipertingkat

前线追踪 | 她怎么帮助有心理疾病的女儿?

65岁的组织义工吴雪花 ，如何陪伴患有焦虑症和躁郁症的女儿走上康复之路？

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Channel 8’s Frontline episode on 4th October 2019 features Irene, a mother and caregiver to her daughter who suffers from bipolar and generalised anxiety disorder. Before knowing CAL, Irene was suffering from exhaustion and even fainted on several occasions. On top of her volunteer trainer role at CAL, Irene is stationed at the Khoo Teck Puat Hospital Sunshine Buddy pushcart every Wednesday from 11am to 2pm, assisting with caregiving enquiries. Her daughter is an ambassador for the nationwide anti-stigma campaign Beyond the Label.

'We even thought of ending our lives': A family’s struggle with their child's OCD and how they came out on top

Evelyn, a counsellor at CAL, and her husband Tony, share on Channel NewsAsia about how they avoided reaching the breaking point through their life-changing decision to attend OCD related courses and meet other caregivers. Read on to find out about their family's experience dealing with their son's OCD.

Meeting changing social needs

Elizabeth Swee, a caregiver-turned-staff at CAL, has her story featured in an article regarding the Tote Board Social Service Fund (TBSSF). The fund supports CAL's work of providing training and support to caregivers, with over 1,000 caregivers trained in 2017 alone.

走进精神病患内心世界

Read the story of Ms Mary Yip, who was CAL's first volunteer trainer to conduct lessons in Mandarin. She later went on to join CAL as a full-time staff, and was instrumental in developing course content that caters to the Chinese-speaking community. Article by Zaobao (in Mandarin).

New S$200 monthly grant to offset costs of long-term caregiving by end-2019: MOH

New government initiatives to support caregivers have been announced by Senior Minister of State for Health Edwin Tong in Parliament. One area of focus is in ensuring sufficient socio-emotional support for caregivers, and CAL will meet this need through its community outreach teams, supported by AIC.