Joyce Teo

2 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Teo

Synopsis: Every first Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you. Seeking mental health help at a centre near you is gradually becoming easier in Singapore as the country focuses its efforts on making this happen. But, it will take time for things to improve. In this episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo speaks to Dr Timothy Singham to find out more about what one can do to navigate the system.

3 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Teo

SINGAPORE – The first time Mr Chia Shyh Shen experienced weakness in his right arm, he thought little of it. It was 2021, and the now-71-year-old was trying to change a ceiling light bulb at home. He could not hold his arm raised. At the time, he and his wife, Madam Tam Fee Chin, 70, attributed what they thought was temporary weakness to old age. But soon, Mr Chia, who along with his wife was employed at a relative’s gold jewellery shop in Johor Bahru, could not even lift a tray at work.

3 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Teo

SINGAPORE - Plans to ensure seniors have a single point of contact for community care are in the works, as the authorities work on integrating such services for a fast-ageing population, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on May 28. Beyond expanding individual community services, integration will make it easier for families to access services and move between different ones, he said at the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) Community Care Work Plan Seminar 2025.

3 weeks ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Teo

SINGAPORE - After working from home as a call centre operator for four months during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, Mr Mohamed Rashath Mohamed Riyad stepped out of his family’s Housing Board flat to go to his workplace, and found himself breaking out in a cold sweat. The sweating continued as he took the lift to the void deck and walked to the nearby MRT station. It left the young man, who is now 24, slightly confused as it was not a warm day. While waiting for the train, he felt a little woozy.

1 month ago | straitstimes.com | Joyce Teo

SINGAPORE –The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) has initiated a five-year study to look at the causes of depression among adults in Singapore, with the aim of finding ways to prevent it or halt its trajectory. The study will track around 3,200 Singapore residents, aged between 18 and 75, as they go about their lives to see how symptoms of depression and the severity evolve over time.