Assisi Hospice continues to introduce programmes that enhance the quality of life and palliative care journey for their patients.

Assisi Hospice (AH) celebrated 55 years of “Caring for Life” in 2024. We have been discerning our community’s needs over the years and transforming ourselves to achieve them.

Founded by the Sisters of Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM) in 1969, we began at the Khoo Block of Mount Alvernia Hospital. First known as Assisi Home, we cared for chronically ill and elderly patients in financial need. In 1988, the FMDM congregation decided to expand into hospice care, and we began to accept only patients requiring respite and hospice care. To meet the increasing needs for palliative care, the FMDM Sisters vacated their convent for it to be used as a much larger space with single rooms for patients. We moved in, and we were renamed Assisi Home and Hospice in 1993, providing Inpatient, Home Care, and Day Care services.

In 2007, we were renamed Assisi Hospice. Responding to the growing need for palliative care in the community, we moved to our new six-storey purpose-built hospice in 2017. The increase in the number of beds and the spacious, conducive environment enabled us to provide care and comfort to many more patients and their families.

Many of our patients prefer to be cared for at home in familiar and comfortable surroundings and be together with their loved ones. In mid-2023, we committed to growing our Home Care service by another 50 per cent over three years to care for 3,000 Home Care patients each year by end-2026. Besides Home Care, we are also growing our Grief and Bereavement Care as a fourth pillar of our services. We have expanded our care to support bereaved families in the wider community, in addition to the loved ones that we cared for.

SUPPORTING PALLIATIVE PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED LUNG DISEASE

Palliative care has much to o²er individuals with chronic progressive illness, such as advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and end-stage renal failure. O´en, they present with progressive decline in their health status, increasing symptoms, and a growing dependence on caregivers. While the literature recognises the need to incorporate palliative care for these patients, barriers to palliative care persist, particularly in the community.

To bridge this gap, the STEP programme was introduced to AH Day Care patients with chronic progressive respiratory diseases to improve their health-related quality of life by achieving timely control of symptoms, optimisation of function, and psychological well-being.

Sixty-seven-year-old Madam Hoe Sau Fong is a Day Care patient who benefits from the STEP programme. Madam Hoe’s slight breathlessness due to asthma worsened in recent years, she was diagnosed with severe lung disease in June 2023.

She felt helpless and scared during bad bouts of breathlessness, and she would rush to the hospital emergency department when she felt her chest tightening and struggled to breathe. This would usually result in a hospital stay.

After leaving the hospital, she would spend her days in bed and sit up only for meals and showers. She spent most of her time watching YouTube or playing cellphone games. She said, “I was scared that I would become breathless when I moved around. Time passed very slowly. I was just struggling to survive and had given up hope.”

Madam Hoe came under the care of AH Day Care in October 2023 and joined the STEP programme. Our doctor conducts regular medical reviews to provide timely control of her symptoms of breathlessness and pain. Our physiotherapist prescribes exercises customised to her ability and works together with her to scale the exercise intensity and level of exertion. Our social worker supports her emotionally, while our therapists from the care team take time to understand her personality, interests, and challenges she is facing.

Initially, Madam Hoe was only able to walk 10 metres with the rollator frame and required assistance for most activities of daily living. Now, she can walk and perform daily activities independently at home.

She also participates actively in the art therapy group, cooking interest group, and music therapy relaxation group in Day Care. She is only one of many AH patients with chronic progressive respiratory disease who have improved their quality of life after participating in the STEP programme. AH continues to strive towards meeting the growing and changing needs of the community.