Don't deny single mothers Baby Bonus and other benefits

Believe the following grassroot opinion on ST forum speaks volumes about our healthcare infrastructure (funding support) against niche group, i.e., single mothers.
Taken from the Straits Times. Forum. Monday, 14 September 09. Pg A25


I refer to Dr Ng Liang Wei's letter, "Set up pregnancy fund to curb abortions" (Aug 22).

I am an unwed mother. At one point, when I was struggling to decide whether to keep my baby or abort it, I realised I was not entitled to Baby Bonus, four-month maternity leave, six days of childcare leave and other benefits. In the end, however, I decided to keep the baby and managed to borrow money from friends and relatives.

Last month, I delivered my baby boy and I am so delighted I made the right choice to keep him. But I know my problems will not end here. Indeed, I will need to work doubly hard to support myself and my baby.

I contacted the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports for aid, but its reply was that help is given only to couples with a child, not single parents. Will such a stand not push single mothers-to-be towards abortion?

Surely, single parents need more help than couples. Unwed mothers have to be brave to face single parenthood and shoulder the financial burden alone. I hope the Baby Bonus, leave and other benefits can be based on the child, rather than whether the baby was born to a couple or not.

It would also be helpful if hospital charges for unwed mothers can be 100 per cent deductible under Medisave so they do not have to fork out cash.


Peck Chai Hong (Ms)
        

Chewing the fat on 'globesity' epidemic

(Just a sidetrack) An opinion piece of the aforementioned title captured my eyes this morning which cites obesity as a public health issue that has been overrated, something mankind has (read: unnecessarily) created a moral panic about.


I didn't know that apart from Type 2 diabetes, increased rates of heart and cardiovascular disease as epidemics caused by fat, breast cancer is another example of manifestation.

Illustratively, the piece points out that causes of obesity include: 

1. Change in quality of life: longer life span and we have less physically stressful occupations
2. Easier access to more food
3. Abundant access to junk, cheap food
4. Absent opportunities for physical activity
5. Eating disorder; eating as an addiction
6. Ageing: the older we are, the fatter; an ageing population means a fatter population (?!)

Interesting read, do check it out when you have the time or you may email us for a copy. Have a great weekend.

 

Parents spend on brain training for kids

We are a little spooked by the idea of using software programmes that aim to train an individual's brain. In ST's Mind Your Body issue today, there is a feature on the topic. Parents are paying SGD70 on an hour session of brain training for their kids. For toddlers, the fees can fetch SGD550 to 600 for 12 one-hour sessions, according to the article.

The next question to ask: is it worth it?


Apparently, the software consists of games that target improving memory, sequencing, sound discrimination, pitch, vocabulary, comprehension and grammar.

Tract Alloway, a psychologist, offers a counter argument on her website that such brain training programmes need to be substantiated with measurement and research (see http://tracyalloway.com/index.php/working-memory/brain-training-does-it-work/). Scoring well in PacMan after some time of practice doesn't mean the child's IQ is improved. She says that before-and-after IQ tests need to be conducted to properly measure if playing PacMan correlates to better thinking and better IQ.

What do you think?

And oh, we just learnt something related to the psychological aspect of our KM course: in the brain, axons send out information and dendrites take in information.


Brain image taken from e-learning website: http://api.ning.com/files/9tcSfHhJzl2TPvCpu*rJ18shk8zYlamQiYFD6Mw2PDo_/brain.jpg
            

What area of our healthcare sector should be improved most?

Dear all,

Just a brief statement or two, what aspect of the healthcare system, services or infrastructure in Singapore would you like to see the greatest change in? Care to share your thoughts on your comments, please?


Jinsheng, Sufen, Kuanzhong

   

Our email address

In case you've forgotten, our email address is thecommunitychat@gmail.com. Feel free to email us if you have any query about this CoP (Communities of Practice), the administration of our project or technical issues with writing your comments.

Do keep your ideas coming, thanks heaps!
  

Medical tourism in Singapore

Reality or marketing speak?
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Abuse to health workers: has it improved?

Chanced upon an archived news clipping about healthcare workers being prone to verbal and physical abuse by their patients and next-of-kin. I wonder if the situation has improved one year since the article was published? I am heartened to know many of your support for healthcare workers from your comments. From nurses who stood their ground during SARS to medical social workers who empathize greatly with their clients, on-the-job realities faced by healthcare employees are, no joke, tough. If you have stories to share, or experiences gone through by those you know in the industry, mind sharing a snippet or two?

Picture: Health workers prone to abuse from patients. The Sunday Times. Home, pg 12. December 7, 2008.

Email us for a copy of the article.