Palliative Caregivers Training Sessions

"I'm able to apply the practical knowledge and skills I learnt from the caregivers' training session. The teaching method is easy to follow. I would recommend these sessions to my relatives and friends should they need the training." Ms Perling Ng, a participant.

"I found the session on how to prepare ourselves for the loss of our love ones beneficial." A participant.

The Palliative Caregivers Training equips caregivers with the skills and knowledge to care for their loved ones. Training sessions are conducted in English, Mandarin and Malay in our satellite centres. The training is open to patients' families and caregivers from all hospices and palliative care units as well as those looking after patients at home. As it is a NCSS funded programme, participants do not have to pay a fee.

The training gives them a better understanding about the needs of dying patients and the importance of care giving. It focuses on practical patient-handling skills, such as how to lift a patient from bed and assist him to sit in a wheelchair, how to clean a patient's mouth and teeth and how to bathe a bed-bound patient. Each training session ends with a discussion on the emotional aspects of communicating with a patient, such as talking about death. The training also addresses the sense of grief that caregivers are expected to feel while taking care of the patient.

The six-hour training, conducted over two days, covers the following topics.

Day 1: Day 2:

- Basic infection control
- Oral care
- Basic hygiene care-sponging in bed
- Helping a patient get dressed/changed
- Bathing
- Tube feeding
- Transfer of patients
- Symptom managment
- Managing emergencies at home
- Massages
- Communication
- Grief session
- Support group