Our Healing Touch
Caring for the Bereaved:
Rose for Remembrance 2023 and 2024
Rose for Remembrance (RfR) is a memorial service held annually for both the bereaved and our staff to remember and honour our patients who have passed on. These events were held on 26 August 2023 and 3 August 2024 respectively. The most recent RfR was attended by 106 family members who came to remember their loved ones among the 923 patients who passed on between April 2023 – March 2024.
Our staff shared their journeys and reflections on caring for their loved ones or patients who had passed on. This was followed by an experiential activity where the Art Therapist facilitated the attendees in creating scented memory jars in honour of their departed loved ones.
Since 2022, the Social Work and Psychosocial Services team creates a different memory jar creation experience for the attendees.
Memory jars created during Rose for Remembrance 2023
Memory jars created during Rose for Remembrance 2024
The Role of Palliative Rehab
This year, our team conducted 3,907 therapy sessions, including 947 by Occupational Therapists and 404 by our Physiotherapist. Licensed therapists provide critical timely assessments, supporting patients to achieve their goals and spend time meaningfully on their end-of-life journey.
Therapy assistants support the therapists in carrying out these interventions, spending time and holding a supportive space with the patients and loved ones, facilitating and bearing witness to more moments created that matter.
Inpatient Activities
Group Namaste Wednesdays
Engaging the basic senses, Namaste Care is a simple and yet effective interaction to affirm a person’s presence and provide comfort.
We have found it not only useful for persons with advanced dementia, but also for those approaching the end of life.
In the past year, we conducted 29 Group Namaste sessions,
16 in our new building, providing comfort and affirming patients’ presence through sensory engagement.
Inpatient Activities
Group Activity Thursdays
Since the return of group activities last year, the team has worked hard to increase the variety of meaningful activities available to our patients. This year, with food being a topic close to the hearts of many Singaporeans, we introduced culinary group sessions. Preparing familiar foods together and communal dining engages not just the hands but hearts too — our patients recall their secret recipes and reminisce precious memories of the past, all while making new ones!
This culinary group experience joins our array of activities that include physical exercise, themed crafts, and games. Over 300 group sessions with 1,435 group interactions were conducted this past year.
Day Care Client Activities
R.I.S.E Programme for Breathlessness
Since its launch in 2021, 34 clients with chronic lung conditions have completed and graduated from our 3-month programme, learning more about their condition and gaining knowledge for self-management of their breathlessness at home. This is done with the support of the collaborative work of nurses, social workers and the rehab team, journeying alongside the clients in their disease.
Part of a bigger collaboration with TTSH and other community programmes, our R.I.S.E programme was recognised for its good work at the 28th Singapore Palliative Care Conference in 2023, inspiring other community services to adapt it.