Preventive Child Healthcare in Singapore: A Parents' Well-Being Perspective.

Introduction Singapore has made remarkable achievements in child and maternal healthcare through signifi cant reduction made in childhood and perinatal morality rates. A number of “new morbidities” however, present emerging child healthcare challenges.1,2 Indeed, the Child Development Programme (CDP) under the Ministry of Health has observed about a 2-fold increase of new referrals from 2004 to 2011.3 Primary child healthcare prevention is crucial to address these problems early. Healthcare providers however, need to be cognisant that children’s development and healthpromoting behaviours are contingent on primary caregivers’ responsiveness to their needs. Caregivers’ health and wellbeing constitute a “capacity” that affects the production of future capacities of their children.4 This editorial aims to contribute further to this understanding by highlighting fi ndings of a needs analysis study5 undertaken by the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKWCH) on vulnerable families and young children to inform the development of the Kids Integrated Development Service 0-3 programme (KIDS 0-3). KIDS 0-3 targets economically disadvantaged families to minimise poor outcomes of young children associated with disadvantages of growing up in impoverished homes. The editorial describes the psychosocial profi le of caregivers used to inform the programme design in supporting children’s healthy development (Table 1). Using surveys and focus group discussions with primary caregivers and social workers serving these families, the study explored issues pertaining to the physical and psychological well-being of the target population: family fi nancial state, perceived needs, and service gaps. The families were living on a per capita income of $450 or less, have a child of 3 years in age and below, and were receiving services from a major social service provider in the housing estate under study.