2015 Eastern Health Alliance Scientific Meeting Is Biggest Ever

Draws more than 1100 delegates to learn about 'Functional Optimisation, Independent Living’

Singapore, 6 November 2015 – The Eastern Health Alliance Scientific Meeting 2015 (EHASM 2015) theme of “Functional Optimisation, Independent Living” has drawn a record 1150 delegates across EH Alliance partner organisations and other healthcare organisations. This is also the biggest EHASM since the series incepted in 2011, featuring more than 80 local and international experts across 8 conference tracks running from 5 to 7 November. With ’s ageing population, healthcare professionals are eager to learn how they can best help patients restore function after serious illness or injury, help them regain optimal independence, and be able to age-in-place well in the community.

Continuing the EHASM tradition of co-locating the event at Changi General and neighbouring St Andrew’s Community Hospital, these speakers hail from EH Alliance partners, local public healthcare institutions, and renowned international organisations from the USA, Australia and Japan. They are sharing projects and insights in management, rehabilitation and restoration of function, particularly in older persons, with the eight conference tracks covering a diverse array of topics: from population-based healthcare, hip fracture ‘valued care’ pathway , functional optimisation, very elderly care, dementia care, pressure ulcer prevention and care, continence optimisation and healthcare innovations.

Speaking at the opening ceremony today, guest-of-honour Minister for Health, Mr Gan Kim Yong touched on the importance of a multi-modal approach in having people, and the community come together to achieve the aims espoused in the meeting’s theme. Chairman of the EHASM 2015, Dr Samuel Chew, echoed Minister Gan’s view: “Our theme ‘Functional Optimisation, Independent Living’ is a timely one, given our growing ageing population. As the population ages, there is a need to focus on holistic, person-centric patient care. We need to ensure that these patients not only recover well, but that they are able to return to their normal day-to-day tasks independently and enjoy a good quality of life.”

Showcasing significant projects

During the conference a number of significant projects by the Eastern Health Alliance and CGH promoting functional optimisation and independent living are being shared for the first time. These innovative projects are:

1) Hip Fracture Valued Care Project The Hip Fracture Valued Care project at CGH incorporates 23 best-practice elements to fast- track hip fracture patients, many of them elderly, to be operated within 48 hours. This has improved their quality of care and reduced the length of stay in the hospital.

2) Multidisciplinary Spasticity Clinic The Multidisciplinary Spasticity clinic at CGH is the first of its kind in Singapore. Spasticity can occur when one has neurological disorders such as stroke and traumatic brain injury. Patients at the clinic see the Rehabilitation Medicine specialist, the physiotherapist and occupational therapist together, ensuring a comprehensive management plan that includes therapy, stretching, medication and Botox injections. This has helped patients improve their walking, thereby easing the load one caregivers.

During the conference, one of the success stories shared involved a cerebral palsy patient who was given another shot at standing on her own two feet.

3) Early Support Discharge Programme for Stroke patients Since 2010, more than 500 patients with mild to moderate stroke have been able to go home earlier and continue their therapy at home through CGH’s Early Support Discharge programme. This has enabled stroke patients to recuperate and rehabilitate in the comfort of their homes while cutting down their stay at the hospital by an average of 6.5 days.

4) Interim Results from First of a kind Tele-health Pilot programme for heart failure patients The preliminary results from the pilot programme by Eastern Health Alliance and Philips announced one year ago are promising, with enrolled patients appreciative of its benefits. Patients are equipped to monitor their own vital signs – such as blood pressure, pulse rate and weight – all essential for heart failure patients to monitor on a daily basis for irregularities that could signal a need for clinical intervention to prevent potentially rapid deterioration of their condition. The patients are highly engaged in the programme and results from these 51 in the study show an average 84 per cent compliance to vital signs monitoring.