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Cow said, if your brains goes nuts under my PAP rule, I will have to send you to Cheaper nut houses in JB / Batam.
:oIo:
http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110326-0000068/IMH-partners-GPs-for-patient-care
IMH partners GPs for patient care
by Neo Chai Chin
04:46 AM Mar 26, 2011
SINGAPORE - Every month for the past five years, Mr Chan (not his real name) has gone to a general practitioner (GP) in Bukit Gombak for his monthly appointments and medication. The 53-year-old administrative officer has schizophrenia, a chronic mental illness he has lived with for 26 years.
But his employer does not know about his condition - and Mr Chan intends to keep it that way, "because society still doesn't accept us".
The father of two teenagers is proud of the fact that despite having schizophrenia, he has supported his family without ever relying on government welfare. "Even though I have this sickness, I can be independent," he told MediaCorp over the phone.
Since 2005, an Institute of Mental Health (IMH) partnership with GPs has helped stable patients keep up their regular visits to the doctor. Instead of going to the IMH in Buangkok for consultations, patients like Mr Chan can just head to the nearest participating GP for treatment. From four participating GPs and 26 referred patients in 2005, the Mental Health-General Practitioner Partnership (MH-GP Partnership) now has 49 participating GPs and over 800 patients referred.
The benefits to patients are many - some GPs are open late and on weekends, and patients feel less of a stigma going to them. For Mr Chan, the GP clinic's letterhead on his receipts allows him to claim S$10 - about a quarter of his $35 expense - yet keep his condition from his employer.
Said Dr Roy Ang, a participating GP who runs Roy's Family Clinic and Surgery in Yishun: "If they have other ailments, including coughs and colds, they do not need to go to another GP for treatment."
Dr Ang sees four to five patients under this programme weekly.
Patients whose conditions deteriorate can be referred back to IMH for acute care before continuing to see the GP.
Partner GPs are linked with IMH's liaison coordinators and the programme director via a hotline and email. They can also call IMH's psychiatric team on duty for emergencies and after-office hour consultations, said Dr Goh Yen-Li, programme director of the MH-GP Partnership.
There is a yearly recruitment exercise to get more GPs on board but some doctors fear their participation will put off their other patients. Others worry that patients with mental conditions could be aggressive, or that consultations with them would take longer, said Dr Goh.
But GP Alvin Lum, who has been with the programme since its inception, said stable patients can be well-managed by primary care providers in the community. Dr Lum is now attending the Graduate Diploma in Mental Health, jointly offered by IMH and the National University of Singapore, to hone his ability to manage mental illness patients.
:oIo:http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC110326-0000068/IMH-partners-GPs-for-patient-care
IMH partners GPs for patient care
by Neo Chai Chin
04:46 AM Mar 26, 2011
SINGAPORE - Every month for the past five years, Mr Chan (not his real name) has gone to a general practitioner (GP) in Bukit Gombak for his monthly appointments and medication. The 53-year-old administrative officer has schizophrenia, a chronic mental illness he has lived with for 26 years.
But his employer does not know about his condition - and Mr Chan intends to keep it that way, "because society still doesn't accept us".
The father of two teenagers is proud of the fact that despite having schizophrenia, he has supported his family without ever relying on government welfare. "Even though I have this sickness, I can be independent," he told MediaCorp over the phone.
Since 2005, an Institute of Mental Health (IMH) partnership with GPs has helped stable patients keep up their regular visits to the doctor. Instead of going to the IMH in Buangkok for consultations, patients like Mr Chan can just head to the nearest participating GP for treatment. From four participating GPs and 26 referred patients in 2005, the Mental Health-General Practitioner Partnership (MH-GP Partnership) now has 49 participating GPs and over 800 patients referred.
The benefits to patients are many - some GPs are open late and on weekends, and patients feel less of a stigma going to them. For Mr Chan, the GP clinic's letterhead on his receipts allows him to claim S$10 - about a quarter of his $35 expense - yet keep his condition from his employer.
Said Dr Roy Ang, a participating GP who runs Roy's Family Clinic and Surgery in Yishun: "If they have other ailments, including coughs and colds, they do not need to go to another GP for treatment."
Dr Ang sees four to five patients under this programme weekly.
Patients whose conditions deteriorate can be referred back to IMH for acute care before continuing to see the GP.
Partner GPs are linked with IMH's liaison coordinators and the programme director via a hotline and email. They can also call IMH's psychiatric team on duty for emergencies and after-office hour consultations, said Dr Goh Yen-Li, programme director of the MH-GP Partnership.
There is a yearly recruitment exercise to get more GPs on board but some doctors fear their participation will put off their other patients. Others worry that patients with mental conditions could be aggressive, or that consultations with them would take longer, said Dr Goh.
But GP Alvin Lum, who has been with the programme since its inception, said stable patients can be well-managed by primary care providers in the community. Dr Lum is now attending the Graduate Diploma in Mental Health, jointly offered by IMH and the National University of Singapore, to hone his ability to manage mental illness patients.
