KKH takes support scheme for parents with special needs kids into the community

To help stressed and emotionally burdened parents of children with special needs before they burn out, KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) is taking its DayOne mental health programme out of the hospital and into the community.

- Judith Tan Correspondent

DayOne, piloted from 2022 to 2024 by KKH's Department of Child Development (DCD), screened and supported parents of children with developmental needs.

In the next phase, DCD has partnered with AWWA to provide screening and support for parents whose children with special needs are enrolled in early intervention centres (EICs) run by the social service agency.

This will first be available at AWWA' cluster of EICs in Hougang and Lorong Napiri, before being rolled out to other centres.

Parents will be screened during the enrolment process and categorised into four tiers, based on their mental health and/or psychosocial needs, and those who agree will receive tailored support services from AWWA and DCD. KKH will also continue its screening of parents.

DCD will upskill its care coordinators and medical social workers to provide this tiered mental health support for parents, from self-care guidance to targeted interventions.

Those with severe mental health needs will be referred to Allkin Mental Health Service for more intensive support. This could include parents whose children have more severe behavioural and developmental needs.

During the earlier pilot, such parents were referred to hospital-based psychiatry services, which carried some stigma. The new model aims to erase this stigma through Allkin's community-based, non-medical service.

Such parents can continue to receive support from Allkin after their child graduates from EICs by age six.