Community Care Work Isn't for Slowing Down—It's About Stepping Up

The sector has fulfilling jobs and opportunities, but joining with the wrong expectations can lead to disappointment.

- Jamie Mervyn Lim

"Why do you want to join Ren Ci Hospital and the community care sector?" I asked the candidate sitting in front of me.

He came with a wealth of experience from the manufacturing industry as a senior manager. There were transferable skillsets and experience that could be of value to Ren Ci Hospital. There was potential to tap into his project management capabilities, systems process thinking and engineering background to seek process improvements and operational efficiency in our work.

I waited for his response, hoping to hear a thoughtful reflection on what made him decide to join the community care sector.

"Because my current work is too stressful and I wanted a slower pace of work. I also want to do something more meaningful," was his crash-landing reply. Needless to say, he was not offered the job.

There is definitely meaningful work at Ren Ci Hospital, but I am not sure about the slower pace. His response revealed a fundamental misunderstanding.

The community care sector is a blend of medical needs, human emotions and operational challenges that requires not less intensity, but a different kind of engagement.

Services range from institutional care such as community hospitals and nursing homes, to outpatient-based services such as senior care centres and day rehabilitation centres, or even home care. Then, there are also more social-oriented services such as active ageing centres.

There are large organisations whose annual operating budgets go beyond a hundred million dollars. This is bigger than many SMEs (Singapore defines SMEs, or small and medium-sized enterprises, as enterprises with operating receipts of not more than $100 million or employment of not more than 200 workers). On the other end of the spectrum, there are also those who are extremely lean in their set-up.