Dear Member,

NOTICE OF CAMI 4th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2009

Notice is hereby given that CAMI’s 4th annual general meeting will be held on Saturday 12^th September 2009 at 3.00 pm at

Simei Care Centre

10 Simei Street 3

Singapore 529897

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

1)                 Opening address by Chairman.

2)                 Secretary Report.

3)                  Confirmation of Minutes of the Annual General Meeting 2008 of the Caregivers’ Association of the Mentally ILL held in Simei Care Centre on 18 October 2008.

4)                 Treasurer’s Report for the financial year July 2008 – June 2009.

Adoption of the Annual Statement of Accounts for the Caregivers’ Association of the Mentally ILL for the financial year ended 30 June 2009.

5)                  Verifying quorum.

6)                 Election for the new committee for year 2009 -2011.

7)                 Any other Business (AOB)

8)                 Meeting ends at 5.30 PM.

Nomination for the new committee will be closed on 9 September 2009.

Please confirm your attendance at telephone number 67829371 or email: To camisingapore@yahoo.com.sg as lunch will be provided at 2 PM.

Yours faithfully,

CAMI Secretary

MOH will build five new nursing homes in the next two years, including one for the special needs of psychiatric patients. There are now three nursing homes run by voluntary welfare organisation (VWOs), dedicated to caring for psychiatric patients. Planning for the 300-bed home has started and it is likely to be completed in 2012, said a MOH spokesman. It will be run by a VWO, to be chosen later.
full story : http://www.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20090523-143287.html

CAMI, in conjunction with Simei Care Centre, will be commencing classes for “Mental Health First Aid” soon. Interested parties please call CAMI at 67829371 or send us an email at contact@cami.org.sg.  Details of the course will be made available shortly.

What does the Mental Health First Aid Training course involve?
This 12-hour mental health literacy course has been developed for members of the public. This course addresses the following crisis situations:
Person having
• suicidal thoughts
• a panic attack
• recently experienced a traumatic event
• overdosed
• Psychotic person threatening violence
The course also provides tips on how to help people with mental health problems before a crisis develops. The 4 teaching modules (3 hours each) cover the following areas:
• Psychosis
• Mood disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Addiction problems and other mental health related issues

Capital 95.8 interviewed CAMI’s Vice Chairman and Simei Care Centre’s Employment Manager on caring for persons with mental illness, myths about violence and the mentally ill, and employment prospects for persons with mental illness. This 9 minute program is in Chinese and was first broadcasted on 2 April 09, at 8.10am.

http://www.podcast.sg/capital958/bubuzhuizong/audio/0904020800_Mental_BuBu.mp3

English Transcript of Interview

The Action Group for Mental Illness （AGMI）will be organising a talk by Prof Mark Heyrman on the Interface Between Law & Psychiatry. Prof Heyrman is Clinical Professor of Law at University of Chicago.
( www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/heyrman )
Admission is free and Mandarin translation is provided.  Please call 63869338 for more info.
Venue: Hougang Care Centre , 20 Buangkok Drive Singapore 534194           Date: 27Mar09, Friday      Time: 7.30pm

精神病行动小组 将举办一个专题讲座 – 题目是“法律与精神科”。 主讲者是美国芝加哥大学临床法律教授， 马克贺曼博士。
入场免费，讲座将有同步华语翻译。 请拨电63869338询问。
地点：后港关怀中心  ， 二十号，万国景， 新加坡邮区534194。
日期：三月二十七日，星期五       时间： 傍晚七点半
Interface between Law & Psychiatry

The Action Group for Mental Illness (AGMI – www.agmi.org.sg ) is organising a free symposium on Insurance Parity for Mental Illness on Sunday 29 March 2009, 2pm – 5.30pm at DBS Auditorium. As co-organisers,  Caregivers’ Association of the Mentally Ill (CAMI) would like to invite you to attend this event. Please note that admission is free, but do call 6386 9338 or email agmi.events@gmail.com to pre-register your seat.

Source: Straitstimes online

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_337806.html

By Judith Tan

PSYCHIATRISTS and lobbyists have welcomed the decision to relax restrictions on Medisave use, as it will allow up to 20,000 people currently suffering from schizophrenia and clinical depression to dip into their compulsory medical savings to pay for treatment.They make up the bulk of the 30,000 mentally ill patients living in the community and treated as outpatients by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).

Most of them are on lifelong medication that can cost between $290 a year for subsidised patients and up to $1,000 a month for specialised treatment.

On Monday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan addressed questions from Members of Parliament, asking for the chronic disease management programme (CDMP) to be extended to cover mental ailments.

‘Just like the other chronically ill, the mentally ill patients need continuous and often long-term outpatient treatment, where cumulative costs are high,’ said Mr Khaw.

The CDMP allows patients with chronic illnesses to withdraw up to $300 a year from each Medisave account to use towards their clinic bills.

This withdrawal limit with deductibles and co-payment will also apply for treatment of schizophrenia and depression.

CDMP was first introduced for diabetes and later expanded to include hypertension, lipid disorders and stroke, and most recently asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Health (MOH) said that discussions are under way with general practitioners and psychiatrists on how best to implement the new initiative, which will be ready before October.

In the last three years, new schizophrenia cases formed between 2 per cent and 4 per cent of all new outpatient cases seen, and newly diagnosed depression cases formed between 8 per cent and 10 per cent.

Ms Porsche Poh, executive director for Silver Ribbon Singapore, an organisation that promotes a positive attitude towards mental health among the community, said: ‘This will also encourage patients to start seeking help or continue their treatment as many delay or stop treatment due to financial difficulties.’

Many people believe that all who have mental illnesses are dangerous and should be locked away. Doctors say this stigma still clings tenaciously to patients, preventing them from studying, working and socialising in the community.

A 31-year-old schizophrenia patient, who did not want to be named for fear of losing her job, described her bills from four years ago as ‘dead high’ when she did not have stable employment and was earning just $800 a month.

She used to spend about $200 on consultations with a psychiatrist and medication that lasted her for six months.

‘It is going to be helpful for people who have a low income. For those who earn less than $1,500, this Medisave scheme will help them a lot,’ said the woman, who now works in the engineering industry and makes $2,000 a month.

But Dr Adrian Wang, a consultant psychiatrist in a private practice, said the challenge is ‘knowing where to draw the line’.

‘We don’t want everybody to say ‘Hey, I’m depressed’. A set of guidelines is needed to ascertain what is appropriate and what is necessary,’ he said.

Mr Khaw’s earlier reason for not adding mental illness to the list of chronic diseases covered by CDMP was a lack of consensus among psychiatrists on the proper treatment.

Private consultant psychiatrist Calvin Fones said there is a lack of objective measures at the moment, ’such as tracking the progress of psychiatric patients during treatment’.

Speaking to The Straits Times, Dr Brian Yeo, another consultant psychiatrist in private practice, said: ‘I can see their concerns. But in general, I don’t think the system will be open to abuse. These are diagnoses that carry a strong stigma.’

Dr Fones felt that the extension of Medisave ‘de-stigmatises and helps people put mental illness in the same category as other chronic diseases’.

‘Like those with hypertension and diabetes, these are people who need long-term treatment to get them well and, perhaps more importantly, to keep them well,’ he said.

When the MOH announced in March 2006 that the list of chronic diseases for which Medisave could be used to pay for outpatient treatment – in a departure from the policy that had so far reserved the savings mainly for in-patient treatment – mental illness was left out.

Dr Wang said only about half the people with schizophrenia and on lifelong medication ‘would be able to return to some form of normal daily function, but not enough to return to a proper job’.

One such patient is Madam Doris Lau Siew Lang, 56, who has been treated for schizophrenia since she was 17.

Her husband, Mr Raymond Anthony Fernando, 59, said she still suffers a relapse every five years, ‘triggered by things such as a loud noise, even while she is on medication’.

‘When I’m no longer around, I don’t know what she is going to do. She can’t even go downstairs to withdraw money. And when she gets a relapse, she doesn’t know what she is doing,’ he said.

Dr Chua Hong Choon, the vice-chairman of the IMH Medical Board, said that while scientific research suggests that individuals with three or more recurrent episodes of depression should receive lifelong treatment to reduce the risk of relapse, two-thirds to three-quarters of all schizophrenic patients will require treatment for life.

juditht@sph.com.sg

Additional reporting by Yeo Sam Jo and Jalelah Abu Baker

Jointly organised by Caregivers’ Association of Mental Illness (CAMI), Singapore Anglican Community Services and Grassroots organisations in Bukit Batok, Dr Ang Yong Guan will be giving a talk on debunking the myths of mental illness on Sunday, 8 March 2009, 2pm – 4pm, at Bukit Batok East Community Club. Please call 6562 4881 to register.

Dear Member,

NOTICE OF CAMI 3^RD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2008

Notice is hereby given that CAMI’s third annual general meeting will be held on Saturday 18^th October 2008 at 3.00 pm at

Simei Care Centre

10 Simei Street 3

Singapore 529897

The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

1) Opening address by Chairman.

2) Confirming of the minutes of the last AGM on 20^th Oct 2007

3) Chairman report on CAMI past activities.

4) Treasurer Report for the financial year July 2007 – June 2008.

5) Proposal to amend certain rules 7.8, 8.5, 11.4, 11.5, 13.1, 16.2 & 16.3 of the constitution

6) Any other Business (AOB)

7) Meeting ends at 5.00 PM.

Please confirm your attendance at telephone number 67829371 or via email contact@cami.org.sg. CAMI has recently obtained in-principle approval for our application to register as a Charitable Organisation. This will help CAMI’s fund-raising efforts as well as obtain more funding from the government. Your attendance and support is thus required as we need your consent to revise CAMI’s constitution as required by the Registry of Societies and the Commissioner of Charities.

Thank you.

Yours faithfully,

CAMI Secretary.

Silver Ribbon (Singapore) and Hougang Malls have jointly come together to be main organisers in a series of events to commemorate World Mental Health Day 2008 in the heartlands of Singapore.

CAMI, as one of the participating organisations, would like to invite you to join the various activities such as :

29 Sept – 4 Oct, 11am – 9pm
Exhibition booths to promote mental health issues
Atrium of Hougang Mall, 90 Hougang Ave 10 (next to Hougang MRT station)

5 Oct 2008, 8am – 10am
4.5km Walk
Guest of Honour – Mr Teo Chee Hean, Minister for Defence
Flag off from Hougang Central Hub at 9am , make a turn at Institute of Mental Health, and then end at Hougang Mall

5 Oct 2008, 8am – 5pm
Children Art Competition (Theme – Happy Days), Performances, Exhibition, Talks and Fun
Atrium of Hougang Mall, 90 Hougang Ave 10 ( next to Hougang MRT station)

Free admission for all activities but registration for the Walk and Children Art Competition is required at Customer Service Counter of Hougang Mall from 15 Sept – 29 Sept

For more information, please download the flyer at

http://www.silverribbonsingapore.com/images/events/20080929_flyer.pdf

and visit Silver Ribbon’s website at

http://www.silverribbonsingapore.com/