Equipping Pathlight School students with life readiness skills to access primary healthcare services in the community.

Singapore, 16 May 2023 – Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic, one of the seven polyclinics managed by the National Healthcare Group Polyclinics (NHGP), has established a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) outreach programme with Pathlight School, an autism-focused school that caters to students on the autism spectrum. This collaboration draws on the different areas of expertise of Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic’s staff to equip Pathlight students with life readiness skills to access primary healthcare services in the community.

In 2016, the team from Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic conducted health education sessions for

Pathlight School as part of their Daily Living Skills lessons. These sessions, held at Pathlight School, covered the importance of hand and dental hygiene and proper handwashing and teeth-brushing techniques as well as one-on-one hands-on-activities for students to put what they have learned into practice. The team also conducted healthy eating talks to help students understand the importance of having a healthy diet.

Seeing that individuals on the autism spectrum and their caregivers sometimes encountered challenges navigating the polyclinic’s services, Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic and Pathlight School developed its first learning journey in 2019 for the school’s Vocational Track Year 4 and 5 students to learn about the different facilities available in the polyclinic. To help the students get closer to the real world context, the teachers brought learning out of the classroom and simulated a patient journey in the polyclinic to illustrate what would take place during a doctor visit. Through the process and learning journeys to the polyclinic, students were taught to be more independent.

When physical learning journeys for the students could not be conducted due to COVID-19 safe management measures in 2020, this challenge spurred the teams to explore new avenues for continued engagement. Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic and Pathlight School produced its first series of step-by-step training videos – Use of Healthcare Services (refer to Annex A) for Pathlight School’s e-learning platform, Learn for Life eCAMPUS. The videos aim to educate students on what to expect when going to the polyclinic – from registering to seeing the doctor and making payment for the visit. These e-learning materials, designed with input from Pathlight School teachers, enabled students to continue learning about accessing primary healthcare services in the community independently. The videos also helped caregivers to reinforce the learning at their own time.

Ageing affects everyone including caregivers. Among caregivers’ greatest concerns for their family members with special needs, such as autism, is whether they will be able to manage themselves independently and the future care arrangement when the caregivers are

no longer around. “Empowering people on the autism spectrum with the knowledge and skills to access healthcare independently gives them an opportunity to be active participants in their own care and respects their rights. It also gives caregivers peace of mind that their children will be taken care of by healthcare workers who respect them and are able to understand and communicate with them,” said Dr Dominique Phang, Family Physician, Senior Staff, Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic and Programme Lead for Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic-Pathlight School CSR programme.

Ms Linda Kho, Principal of Pathlight School, said: “We are grateful for the support and commitment from NHGP’s Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic team in embracing autism and helping our students integrate into the community. The partnership has enabled us to bring teaching and learning beyond the classroom into the community and provide authentic learning opportunities for our students to build their life readiness skills. This is part of the School’s holistic curriculum, together with academics and other 21st century competencies, to ensure that our students are better prepared for life.”

To date, more than 100 Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic staff have participated in autism awareness talks delivered by Autism Resource Centre (Singapore), a not-for-profit charity that established Pathlight School, and learned skills such as autism-friendly strategies to support individuals on the autism spectrum. Through these learning opportunities, Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic staff are more confident in communicating with these individuals before, during and after consultation.

The on-site learning journey at Ang Mo Kio Polyclinic for Pathlight School students has resumed in April 2023 (refer to Annex B). The step-by-step training videos are still available on Pathlight School’s learning portal for students and caregivers to access at their own time. It will be shared with the rest of the six National Healthcare Group Polyclinics to increase awareness on autism and educate staff on managing and communicating with individuals on the autism spectrum.

“Equipping our staff with the right skillset to adopt different methods of communication when supporting individuals with special needs is just as important as helping caregivers to plan ahead for their future clinic visits and smoothening their transfer to the next care provider,” added Dr Phang.

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