CENTRES Clinical Ethics Conference 2023

About

CENTRES Clinical Ethics Conference 2023 is on the theme “Ethical Challenges in Home & Community Care Settings” and will be held on 6th & 7th February at the Kent Ridge Guild House.

Continuing to live in their community is fundamental for the old to thrive despite frailty and illness. Care at home – the most common care setting for most people throughout life – is crucial to care systems in ageing societies. Home care systems rely on health and social care services and informal caregiving in the home where goals and standards of care are hard to pin down. This conference will focus on national policies, highlighting ethical issues and exploring ethical frameworks to enable participants to analyse and reflect upon ethical dilemmas that arise in practice on the ground.

– Fully Subscribed!

Session 1: Understanding the ethical landscape of home care

As national policies around ageing-in-place are being implemented, health and social care practitioners are confronting issues at the intersection of home care and community care. At this intersection lies choices and conflicts about daily care, long-term care relationships, and places of care for older adults in better or poorer health. This session gives voice to the wishes, needs and concerns of older adults, caregivers and care providers.

Learning objectives

Participants will learn about:

national policies on ageing-in-place and its implementation
complex ethical issues that arise in home and community care settings and how to evaluate those complex ethical issues from different perspectives

Session 2: Values in care – contexts, transitions and intersections

The ageing person’s changing relationships and care arrangements signals a need for personal, familial and state planning. This session elaborates on an ethical framework for good care at home, with a focus on supporting personal agency and choices about care arrangements, supporting long-term care relationships in the family and community, and clarifying quality of care and responsibilities for care.

Learning objectives

Participants will learn about:

ethical frameworks for good care at home
quality of care and responsibilities for care in the home and community care setting, and
personal agency and choices about care arrangements, while supporting long-term care relationships in the family and community.

Session 3: Ethical issues in decision-making

From planning for care arrangements in old age, we turn to the implications of frailty, dementia and cognitive impairment on the ethics of decision-making in home and community care. This session also considers new issues prompted by the Covid-19 pandemic on lockdown policies and the fate of older adults at home.

Learning objectives

Participants will learn about:

the ethics of decision-making in home care and community care when someone is frail, has dementia or is cognitively impaired, and
new issues arising from the recent Covid epidemic and its impact on older adults in home and community care settings.

Session 4: Moral distress, social and emotional issues

This session explores the social realities of loneliness in life transitions including old age, and considers the social supports needed for preserving old age independence and dignity in family and community living.

Learning objectives

Participants will learn about what:

loneliness is and the impact loneliness has on older adults, and
can be done to alleviate loneliness to preserve old age independence and dignity in family and community living

Who should attend + CPE

Doctors, nurses, medical social workers, allied health professionals, academics, care workers, policy makers, older persons, individuals caring for someone at home or in a community care setting (befrienders, caregivers).

Continuing professional education points: Will be awarded for doctors, pharmacists and nurses.

Programme

Session 1: 6th February 2023: Understanding the ethical landscape of home care
Session Chairperson: Dr Jacqueline Chin

Time	Mode	Speakers/Panelists	Title/Topic

9.00 to 9.10	Welcome	Adj. A/P Raymond Chua	Opening remarks
9.10 to 9.50	Talk	Dr Jacqueline Chin	Ageing-in-place and the ethics of home care
9.50 to 10.30	Talk	Dr Ng Wai Chong	The goals of home care – challenges and opportunities from the care provider perspective
10.30 to 11.00	Break
11.00 to 12.30	Panel	Mr Martin Chew Dr Chong Poh Heng Dr Julian Lim Dr Ng Wai Chong Mrs Elizabeth Seah	Vulnerabilities, interests, motivations and ways of flourishing in old age
12.30 to 1.30	Lunch

Session 2: 6th February 2023: Values in care – contexts, transitions and intersections
Session Chairperson: A/P Michael Dunn

Time	Mode	Speakers/Panelists	Title/Topic

1.30 to 2.10	Talk	A/Prof Michael Dunn	Distinctive duties in home and community care
2.10 to 3.00	Panel	Mr Stephen Chan Mr Dwayne Loo Ms Loo Wei Leng Ms Tabitha Ong	Who is a vulnerable person at home? (Part 1)
3.00 to 3.30	Break
3.30 to 4.20	Panel	Mr Stephen Chan Mr Dwayne Loo Ms Loo Wei Leng Ms Tabitha Ong	Who is a vulnerable person at home? (Part 2)
4.20 to 4.40	Summary

Session 3: 7th February 2023: Ethical issues in decision-making
Session Chairperson: Dr Sumytra Menon

Time	Mode	Speakers/Panelists	Title/Topic

9.00 to 9.10	Opening		Welcome back
9.10 to 9.50	Talk	Ms Emily Ong	Living to the best you can with dementia
9.50 to 10.30	Talk	Prof Chin Jing Jih	Ethical issues in care planning for persons with dementia, cognitive impairment and frailty
10.30 to 11.00	Break
11.00 to 12.40	Panel	Prof Chin Jing Jih Mr Jason Foo Mr Dwayne Loo Ms Loo Wei Leng A/P Philip Yap	Everyday decisions and planning for dementia – What can older adults and caregivers at home expect of good care planning for dementia
12.40 to 1.40	Lunch

Session 4: 7th February 2023: Moral distress, social and emotional issues
Session Chairperson: Prof Julian Savulescu

Time	Mode	Speakers/Panelists	Title/Topic

1.40 to 2.20	Talk	Dr Jacqueline Chin	What should be done about loneliness?
2.20 to 3.00	Talk	A/P Angelique Chan	Old-age loneliness in Singapore
3.00 to 3.30	Break
3.30 to 5.10	Panel	A/P Angelique Chan Dr Noreen Chan Prof Kalyani Mehta Dr Kenny Tan Ms Yong Leong Ying	What is to be done about unwanted old age loneliness?
5.10 to 5.30	Summary		Closing of Conference