$200 Home Caregiving grant open for applications from 1 October
SINGAPORE — Eligible seniors or caregivers can apply for an enhanced grant to defray long-term care expenses from 1 October, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (25 September).
The Home Caregiving grant (HCG) will replace the existing Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) grant, increasing the monthly cash payout to $200 from $120.
It will be paid to eligible care recipients, who can choose to nominate a caregiver to receive it, the MOH added.
Beneficiaries will also have more flexibility in using it to defray caregiving expenses such as hiring an FDW, home and community-based services as well as transportation to medical appointments, the ministry said.
Those eligible for the HCG must meet the following requirements:
Always require some assistance for at least three activities of daily living (such as eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting and moving around)
Be means-tested to have per capita household monthly income that is $2,800 or less, or belong to a household with no income and living in a residence with an annual value that is $13,000 or less
Is a Singaporean or a permanent resident with a parent, child or spouse who is a Singaporean
Does not live in a residential long-term care institution
Those who are already receiving the FDW grant will be automatically enrolled onto the new grant and need not apply, added the MOH.
Pre-enrolment pilot for respite care
Separately, the MOH noted that caregivers can get quicker access to respite care through a new pilot pre-enrolment system by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC).
The system, called Go Respite, allows caregivers to temporarily place their elderly relatives under the care of a senior care centre or nursing home when they are on a break or when a foreign domestic worker goes on home leave.
The average activation time for those on the pilot is about a week for centres and two weeks for nursing homes, compared with up to four weeks for those who are not, said the MOH.
Since the start of the pilot in April, the AIC has received close to 150 pre-enrolment applications, with over 10 per cent activating such respite care services, the ministry added.
As of September, there are 20 senior care centres and 26 nursing homes participating in the pilot, including AWWA Rehab and Day Care, various St Luke’s Eldercare outlets and Bukit Batok Care Home.
Caregivers registered under Go Respite will be required to complete administrative processes in advance to reduce the activation time, such as the assessment of eligibility for subsidies, selection of suitable service providers, and allowing service providers to briefly assess a care recipient’s medical conditions.
Pre-enrolment is valid for two years once completed.
These initiatives are part of the Caregiver Support Action Plan, which aims to boost support for caregivers in areas such as respite care, financial support, and care navigation. The MOH announced the plan in February.
They have been rolled out progressively over the course of the year and more will follow in the coming months, said the ministry.
To enable caregivers and seniors to better access information and obtain referrals to services and grants, the AIC Link counters will be expanded beyond the current eight locations at acute and community hospitals and AIC’s office at Maxwell Road, to selected Silver Generation Office Satellite Offices within the community.
Three more such counters will be ready at Choa Chu Kang, Nee Soon and Pasir Ris by the end of the year, while the one at Toa Payoh started operating this month.
Aware study
The announcement comes a week after the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) released a study that found that primary caregivers of elderly parents or relatives lose around 63 per cent of their income, or an estimated $57,000, per year due to changes in their employment.
In it, Aware urged the government to introduce the right to request for flexible work arrangement and six days of paid eldercare leave, as well as a caregivers’ support grant.
The grant, for instance, could be a mixture of cash and Central Provident Fund (CPF), with the amount dependent on the number of activities of daily living a care recipient requires help with.
The study’s other recommendations include tighter regulations and licensing of private providers of eldercare services, easier access to care-related information and services and setting up a national registry of family caregivers.
By 2050, 47 per cent of Singapore's total population will be aged 65 years or older, according to projections from the United Nations.
The average Singaporean is expected to live up to 84.8 years, topping a list of 39 locations, according to The Burden of Disease in Singapore 1990 to 2017 report.
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