The Inter-agency Taskforce on Mental Health and Well-being has launched Singapore’s National Mental Health and Well-being Strategy. The Strategy aims to create an effective mental health ecosystem comprising accessible and good quality clinical care with a supportive community and society, where people with mental health needs can seek help early without stigma and be readily supported for their recovery.

The Strategy covers four focus areas: Expanding capacity of mental health services; Enhancing capabilities of service providers for early identification and intervention; Promoting mental health and well-being; and Improving workplace mental health and well-being. 

A Tiered Care Model, accompanied by a Practice Guide, will be introduced to better organise mental health services across health and social sectors, according to the severity of individuals’ mental health needs. The Tiered Care Model will lay the foundation for further strategic enhancements to the mental health ecosystem. It will improve care access and facilitate effective interventions and care provision, while avoiding unwarranted medicalisation and stigma.

To ensure  adequate care capacity for those who require hospital care, Ministry of Health (MoH) is working with acute hospitals on refining the care model for hospital-based mental health services and capacity planning. The government plans to extend the provision of mental health services to all new polyclinics by 2030.

Besides primary care, MoH will also develop other first-stop touchpoints such as a national mental health helpline and text service, and digital mental health platforms to allow more people to self-help or access help quickly.

The MoH Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) is also developing a platform to facilitate referrals of individuals between mental health service providers for better care coordination.