6 minute read
Reach Out: Welfare Services
A holistic approach
to helping those impacted by adverse life experiences
Many of you may have come across distressing news of children being abused or neglected. You may even know of children within your own community who have been affected by traumatic life events such as their parents’ divorce or marital conflicts.
These events are known as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), typically occurring from birth till the age of 18. Recent statistics suggest that child abuse cases are on the rise1, while two out of three adult residents in Singapore have faced ACEs2 .
Trauma-informed care for families and individuals
In recent years, the interventions of Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) have focused on addressing the impact of ACEs on our clients. MWS Family Service Centres, for example, have adopted a trauma-informed approach to serve our clients, most of whom have experienced traumatic events such as abuse and violence when they were children, or were recently exposed to divorce, accidents or the sudden demise of loved ones.
Our professional staff are guided by five foundational principles of trauma-informed care when they engage clients: safety; trustworthiness; choice; collaboration; and empowerment. At MWS Girls’ Residence (GR), 80 per cent of the young women had experienced four to seven ACEs at the point of entry. Upon their admission, every girl is given an individualised care plan to meet her specific needs. They are placed in a holistic trauma-informed therapy programme that considers the insights and impact from trauma.
Preventive intervention
MWS has also been developing services and programmes aimed at preventing ACEs from happening. One such initiative is the MWS Family Support Programme (FSP), which reaches out to parents who need support in managing issues with their pre-teen and teenage children.
Launched in October 2019, one of the key services that MWS FSP offers is the Positive Parenting Programme (Triple P). A team of MWS Family Life Educators run Triple P to counsel and empower parents with simple and practical strategies to help them build strong and healthy relationships with their children. These strategies help parents to manage their children’s behaviours and prevent problems from developing in the future.
Empowering life to the full
These positive interventions ultimately aim to empower the vulnerable we serve and make a sustainable difference in their lives.
Regardless of when we positively intervene in the lives of those who have experienced adverse life events, we pray that we are able to guide them out of the darkness, put them on the right path to recovery, and give them hope for a brighter future.
1 MSF Child Abuse & Protection Statistics (updated Apr 2020). Retrieved from https://www.msf.gov.sg/research-and-data/Research-andStatistics/Pages/Child-Abuse-Investigations.aspx. 2 Singapore Mental Health Study 2016, led by researchers from Institute of Mental Health, Ministry of Health and National University of Singapore.
To find out more about TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE, check out Uncommon Voices Issue 1/2021 at mws.sg/publications or scan the QR code.
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To find out more about the various programmes and services mentioned in the article, scan the QR code or log on to mws.sg.
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MWS at 40
A pioneer talks about learning from the dying
In 2021, Methodist Welfare Services (MWS) celebrates 40 years of empowering life to the full. This is the first in a series of stories from people who have been on this journey with MWS. They include MWS co-founders and leaders, volunteers, beneficiaries, donors, staff, and representatives from the Methodist community. Look out for more stories of lives empowered by MWS in upcoming issues of Methodist Message.
One of MWS’s longest-serving chairpersons, Dr Patrick Kee, was involved in establishing the Methodist Home for the Aged Sick. Then located at St George’s Lane, the Home admitted its first six residents in August 1983. At that time, Dr Kee was serving on the Trinity Annual Conference’s (TRAC) Board of Social Concerns. A general practitioner, he volunteered to provide medical care to the residents.
MWS has since grown to a network of 20 centres and programmes that serve the needs of over 8,000 disadvantaged seniors, families, children and youth.
Seven years later, Dr Kee helped to promote hospice care in the Methodist churches after he took a course on it. This was to increase awareness of the needs of the terminally ill and the benefits of hospice care, with a view to incorporate it into MWS’s suite of eldercare services.
Dr Patrick Kee
MWS Chairperson (1989–91, 1993–97)
Teething problems
Like many new organisations, MWS had its fair share of teething problems. One of the early challenges, said Dr Kee, was raising funds to support the operating costs of the Home and other services. Another difficulty was getting church members interested and involved in caring for the needy and elderly sick.
“I didn’t expect every Methodist to do it, but we were grateful to those who had a heart for it,” said Dr Kee, now 74.
The third problem—one that remains till today—is maintaining the health of the elderly and giving meaning to their lives.
The Bethany story
About 16 years after MWS’s founding, the Home was expanded to accommodate 48 seniors, twice the number it started with.
With Singapore’s ageing population, the needs for the elderly sick continued to grow and the Home saw the need to expand yet again. MWS was then invited by the Ministry of Health to establish a new nursing home at a different site. This led to the setting up of Bethany Methodist Nursing Home at Choa Chu Kang in 2000, which was able to cater for 200 residents.
“My biggest passion was to care for the dying and I tried to incorporate it into Bethany Methodist Nursing Home,” recalled Dr Kee.
What the dying taught him about living
Dr Kee has learnt many lessons from treating chronically sick seniors. “Once, when we were doing our rounds in the ward, there was a blind elderly lady who was confused and shouting. She shouted even louder when the nurses tried to calm her down. When I came to her bed, I told her in a soft voice that I was a doctor and held her hand gently. She immediately turned into a sweet old lady. This taught me an important lesson that we need to ‘enter the world’ of the elderly who are confused.”
Through his palliative work, he has also learnt to come to terms with his own mortality as a Christian. “Caring for the elderly sick and dying,” he explained, “is not a one-way street. They have been my teachers— inspiring and teaching me how to grow old and to face death with the grace of God in order to live life more fully.”
