Caring for the elderly: Brahm Centre inks agreement with TTSH to train more vocational students

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SINGAPORE - Fourteen interns from Northlight School spent their time in hospital, learning the basics of primary care for the elderly, under a scheme pioneered by mental health charity Brahm Centre and Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Now, the effort is growing.

On Thursday (Aug 13), both institutions agreed to develop a more structured and sustained programme, where the centre prepares and supports the participants and the hospital provides workplace learning and guidance. The aim is to offer placement in the next three years to students who are interested to explore careers in healthcare.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brahm Centre Angie Chew said: “We want to teach the young the soft skills - how to socially connect with people by showing compassion and forging bonds with others.”

Under the TTSH Para-Nursing Volunteer Programme, the vocational students learn basic caregiving and para-clinical skills to assist nurses, support patient recovery, and lighten ward workloads at the TTSH Integrated Care Hub (ICH).

Unlike other volunteer initiatives, this one equips them with caregiving skills through on-the-job training with “nurse buddies”, and training that is specific to the programme.

Students care for patients recovering from surgery or undergoing rehabilitation after conditions such as strokes. They help patients with everyday tasks including brushing teeth, feeding, changing diapers, replacing bed linen, and transferring patients between beds and wheelchairs.

Although they are not allowed to perform procedures such as wound dressing or bathing patients, they assist nurses by anticipating the patients’ needs and supporting them during treatments.

Deputy Director of Nursing at TTSH Wee Fong Chi added: “As nurses, we saw how the programme made an impact on the students.

“They started out unsure, only taking instructions from the nurses, but within eight weeks, they became proactive in carrying out chores and we could see them bloom and become motivated.”

Both Chew and Wee were particularly proud that after the stint, a few students wanted to make healthcare a career - with some even applying to the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) to pursue nursing and allied health.

Chew said: “Through the Para-Nursing Volunteer Programme, the students were able to build confidence and relate with patients. I believe that these are the soft skills which AI (artificial intelligence) would not be able to replace.”

The memorandum of understanding was signed at the official opening of Brahm Centre@Labrador, the latest outfit of the charity whose mission is to to promote happier and healthier living.

The Labrador centre, the charity’s 10th, marks an extension of accessible, community-based support for mental wellbeing in Singapore’s West.

The 4,000 sq ft community wellbeing space, located on the second floor of Yeo’s Building in Telok Blangah, started operations since January 2026, providing ongoing programmes such as art, health talks, exercises and activities for migrant domestic workers on Sundays.

In his speech at the launch, Senior Minister of State for Health Tan Kiat How said that building a mentally healthy society is not simply about providing good healthcare, but about “helping people stay mentally well, supporting them before challenges become crises, and creating communities where people feel connected, supported and able to navigate life’s ups and downs with confidence”.

Tan, who is also Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, said community organisations like the Brahm Centre complement Singapore’s healthcare system by making support more accessible, more approachable and closer to where people live their daily lives, a direction that Singapore has been moving towards over the last 20 years.

Retiree Jessie Tham, 66, is someone who has benefitted from Brahm Centre’s philosophy of mindfulness-based stress reduction.

Tham, who used to work in finance, suffered a tear in her aorta while holidaying in Malta in December 2018, which affected the nerves in her spine.

In constant pain, she was on several medications until she attended the mindful programme at Brahm Centre and took up decoupage, which involves gluing paper cutouts onto a surface and sealing them with multiple layers of varnish.

“That took my mind off the pain and I was beginning to understand the concept of mindfulness. The ‘aha’ moment came when I saw Angie (Chew) constantly walking on the yoga mat. I observed her technique and for the next seven days I walked and the pain went away.

“With this non-striving mindset, I don’t need to rush my recovery process. I can now enjoy being where I am,” she said.