FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ) ON NURSING HOME RESPITE CARE
GENERAL
1. What is Nursing Home Respite Care (NHRC)?
A short-term relief for caregiver to address to the disruption in their caregiving role while
their loved one is temporary cared for in a nursing home. Situations for respite care could
include the caregiver requiring medical treatment and those seeking for a break from
prolonged caregiving.
2. When should I consider NHRC?
Families should explore community and family resources to support the temporary
disruption of care to minimize interruptions to the patient’s usual care arrangements.
Families might want to consider applying for nursing home respite care after these options
are exhausted. Please note that the allocation of respite bed is subjected to availability and
priority of the cases.
3. Am I eligible to apply for NHRC?
Applicants are to fulfill the following criteria:
 Patient in care is a Singapore Citizen OR Singapore Permanent Resident.
 Family must be assessed to require nursing home respite care, and family to resume care
post discharge from nursing home.
 Patient to fulfill the following nursing home admission criteria:
o
Wheelchair-bound or bed-bound and/or needs daily nursing care and/or help in
personal care such as feeding, toileting and transferring
o
Has physical or mental disabilities because of medical conditions like stroke and
other chronic diseases
 Passes the household means testing (HHMT) for long-term care subsidies.
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4. What is the minimum and maximum length of stay for Nursing Home Respite Care?
Eligible caregivers could receive a minimum period of stay of 7 days and maximum of 30
days per calendar year (including admission and discharge date), subjected to bed
availability, priority and allocation. AIC will assess the suitability of the applications and
allocation of days.
5. If I apply on December and stretches over to January next calendar year, will I be entitled
for a total of 60 days?
The number of days allocated starts from the requested admission date for the calendar
year. For example, if admission date is on 15th December and caregiver is allocated 30 days
of respite for that calendar year, the discharge date will be 16th Jan.
This would mean that 15 days been used for year 2013 and 16 days have been used for year
2014.
The number of days determined for the months overlaying to the next year will be subjected
to AIC’s allocation and beds availability.
6. Will the patient be placed on the long term nursing home waitlist?
No. NHRC is to support caregivers to maintain care at home. If the patient overstays beyond
the allocated number of days, the family is expected to discharge the patient or to pay full
private rates.
7. How do I apply for this service?
For applicants known to social workers and case managers, please approach them on the
suitability of submitting an application. Social workers and case managers can obtain the
application package, social report, Resident Assessment Form (RAF) and declaration form
here.
For applicants not known to social workers and case managers, you may submit the
application package (Part 1) to AIC for processing. If you require further information, please
contact AIC general hotline at Tel: +65 6603 6800 or email: enquiries@aic.sg
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8. Would I get to choose the preferred nursing home?
No. Due to the limited number of beds set aside for respite care, we are unable to
accommodate to your preferred nursing home location and would refer your application
based on bed availability and suitability from the selected nursing homes.
9. When should I apply?
All applications for respite care should be made between 6 weeks to 12 weeks prior to the
requested admission date. This is to provide a suitable period for AIC and the nursing home
to make an assessment, for the patient to seek medical and chest x-ray examination, and for
you to attend the pre-admission counselling with the nursing home.
10. Would someone conduct a home visit?
Yes, a home visit could be arranged by the social workers, case managers, AIC and/ or the
nursing home for the purpose of assessing and approving the application.
11. Why are there two parts to the respite care application?
The purpose is to ensure that caregivers/ patients pass the social, financial and care needs
status before they are asked to seek for their medical and chest x-ray report.
MEDICAL ASSESSMENT
1.
Why is it mandatory for the patient to seek for medical assessment and chest x-ray?
It is under MOH guidelines for nursing home admission that the patient needs to have a
chest x-ray report of no more than 6 months. Nursing homes would require the most recent
medical report to ensure that they are able to appropriate the proper care for the patient.
This will rule out any spread of infectious diseases in the nursing homes so as to support
effective communal living and ageing-in-place.
2. Where can I seek for medical assessment and chest x-ray?
You can approach the polyclinics, SATA, scheduled outpatient clinic appointments and
general practitioners for the medical assessment, as long as the doctor is a Singaporeregistered doctor with the Singapore Medical Council (SMC). You may also seek for chest xray at a facility with the available equipment.
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3. Will I be reimbursed for the cost of seeking medical and chest x-ray assessments?
No. Applicants will have to pay for the full cost of the medical and chest x-ray examination
and ambulance services.
MEANS-TESTING
1.
Whose household will be means tested?
Means-testing will be conducted on the household where patient is staying i.e. the
household whose address appears on the patient’s NRIC.
2.
Who is included in the household for means-testing?
Household means testing is based on ALL family members, whether related by blood,
marriage and/or legal adoption, who share the same address as the patient. This includes
parents, spouses, children, siblings, grandchildren, grandparents-in-law, children-in-law etc.
*Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW) is officially an employee of the household and should not
be included in household means testing calculation.
3.
Am I eligible for subsidy?
Applicants will have to undergo ILTC household means testing (HHMT) to assess their
subsidy eligibility and payment amount after HHMT. The cost of respite care will be
determined according to the level of subsidy qualified by the patient.
For
more
information
on
means
testing,
you
may
refer
to
http://www.aic.sg/silverpages/means_test/.
You
can
download
the
Means-Test
Declaration
Form
via
http://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/form.html#14
NURSING HOME COST
1. How much do I have to pay for the nursing home cost?
The actual cost after subsidy is dependent on the patient’s needs. It would be discussed and
finalized during pre-admission counselling.
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NURSING HOME ADMISSION AND DISCHARGE
1. Why do I have to attend pre-admission counseling at the nursing home before admission?
The pre-admission counseling session is to enable you to view the nursing home before the
admission and for patient’s needs to be conveyed. During pre-admission counseling, the
respite cost will also be finalized.
2. What happens if I do not admit the care recipient on agreed admission date?
Applicants are expected to admit the care recipient on the agreed date and time or the
respite care bed could be withdrawn. Please inform the nursing home should there be a
change in admission date and time. The final decision to holding the bed due to the change
in admission date and time lies with AIC and the nursing home.
3. What happens if I do not discharge the care recipient on agreed discharge date?
Applicants are expected to discharge patient on stipulated discharge date. You are liable to
pay the full non-subsidized charges of the nursing home stay for days stayed beyond the
agreed discharge date. Exceptions which might require extended days of stay such as
primary caregiver not recovering from medical treatment in time would be subjected to AIC
and nursing home’s decisions.
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