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Para-counselling For Seniors: A Way To Bridge The Gap In Mental Health Services

  • Lifestyle
  • 12 months ago
  • SilverStreak Editorial Team

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Para-counselling For Seniors: A Way To Bridge The Gap In Mental Health Services
Tackling mental health challenges among seniors in a super-aged Singapore is no mean feat. The topic remains unfamiliar or taboo for most older people, who might in any case prefer to keep it to themselves to avoid feeling like a burden to family and friends.
This issue is compounded by the probable increase in socially disconnected silvers as family units continue to shrink in line with global trends, leading to greater rates of loneliness, depression and cognitive decline.
It’s vital, therefore, to arm caregivers or social workers with the skills to recognise warning signs and communicate those effectively to qualified professionals for further treatment.
These workers, who are often closer to the community, would naturally be able to respond quicker to a mental health crisis – just as a paramedic could help someone choking on their food at a hawker centre.
This is where para-counselling comes in as a handy skill for the larger community. Para-counselling skills come in handy when people just need a little help to get back on their feet without the need to visit a professional counsellor.
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Wong Lit Shoon, a council member of the Gerontological Society Singapore (GSS) is now seeing growing interest in para-counselling. The 66-year-old semi-retiree runs biannual courses on para-counselling for the Social Service Institute (SSI), which operates under the National Council of Social Service.
Lit Shoon, who was once the executive director of SAGE Counselling Centre, says that he has seen a gradual demographic shift since he started conducting the programme, some “10 to 15 years ago”.

"When we started, it was mostly social workers and other social service staff. But over the years, we have volunteers and also caregivers who want to learn the skills to take care of their family members."

To Lit Shoon, this is an indication that society is beginning to grasp the potential mental health challenges that may arise with an ageing population.
While I’ve been conducting my programme at SSI, I see a lot of other social service agencies beginning to provide their own similar programmes,
he says.

"Part of this comes from a general increase in awareness about mental health. But there’s also a growing understanding that seniors, too, face a lot of mental health challenges."

Recognising seniors’ mental health challenges
Lit Shoon acknowledges that most seniors often come to counsellors with “multiple issues at one shot”, whereas younger people tend to come with an overarching difficulty in mind.

"For younger people, it usually has to do with studies, relationships, or their finances. It’s relatively straightforward. With seniors, there are often multiple issues compounding on each other. "

"Older people might also suffer from multiple losses that are interrelated with others. A fracture might lead to loss of movement, which means they can no longer work, leading to financial issues."

They might not even be able to tell you what the root cause of their problems is – they just know that they have a lot of problems, and they aren’t feeling good. It is up to a qualified counsellor to work with them to pick through the issues and come up with a treatment plan,
he says.
Arming mental health first aiders within the community
Para-counselling For Seniors: A Way To Bridge The Gap In Mental Health Services - Course
This is where para-counsellors differ from full-fledged counsellors. Having only gone through a two-day crash course, those with para-counselling training are “closer to first aiders than doctors”.
Para-counsellors can recognise the field signs, like detecting the signs of stress or burnout or to notice sudden changes in demeanour. In a crisis, they implement intervention strategies straightaway to defuse the situation, before trying to get the senior to agree to go for further treatment,
Lit Shoon explains.
Counsellors, on the other hand, are closer to doctors, boasting far more rigorous training over a broader spectrum of topics. They typically work with their clients over a protracted period with a treatment plan in mind to engender, hopefully, lasting improvements.
Nonetheless, he avers that para-counsellors play a vital role in providing a bridge between professional mental health services and seniors, many of whom remain resistant to seeking help for their mental well-being.
The problem of accessibility (of counsellors to seniors) still remains. It is more difficult for older people to accept help from outside. They don’t want to be seen as a burden. They might not even know they have a problem, and might just see it as part of ageing,
he says.
In that vein, he encourages those with the emotional capacity to provide para-counselling to take up the course.
You need to have first aiders in the community that know when people have been cut, and know how to stop the bleeding. It’s the same for mental health,
he says.

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