KidSTART@KKH KIDS 0-3 Programme

BACKGROUND

Kids Integrated Development Service 0-3 (KIDS 0-3) programme was launched in 2014 as a partnership between KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Temasek Foundation and AMKFSC Community Services Ltd. In 2016, KIDS 0-3 became part of the KidSTART Programme, under the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA), and continued to provide support from the antenatal stage up till the child turns 3 years old. From 2014 to 2019, KIDS 0-3 had provided integrated child health, development and social support to 178 children.

KidSTART is an upstream programme to help children aged 0 to 6 years from low-income families to have a good start in life by empowering families to build strong foundations for their children and foster positive child development outcomes. From March 2021, the KidSTART@KKH KIDS 0-3 programme will deliver a merged Home Visitation model, in partnership with ECDA, the Ministry of Health (MOH), KidSTART Singapore Limited and the National University Hospital (NUH).

WHAT IS IT?

The KidSTART@KKH KIDS 0-3 service is an integrated system of care that aims to optimise the developmental potential of children from low-income families, by focusing on building the parents’ and caregivers’ capacities in providing an environment for optimal learning, growth and development. This is done through regular home visits, calibrated by intensity according to individual families’ contextual needs. Regular screening of the child and family’s well-being across the antenatal, postnatal and early childhood years also informs the service provider and professionals on the needs for calibration of services and frequency. It also enables early identification of potential issues so that prompt interventions or onward referrals to services can be facilitated. In recognition of the importance and impact of a child and family’s ecosystem for holistic well-being, the programme advocates to strengthen the coordination of care and leverages on the expertise of other systems accessed by families. For a young child within a family, the areas of support cut across multiple domains of health, social and early childhood education. As such, KidSTART@KKH KIDS 0-3 utilises a trans-disciplinary approach in its service delivery.

The TEAM

KidSTART@KKH KIDS 0-3 Programme comprises multi-disciplinary professionals from the medical, allied health and social services. It adopts the Trans-disciplinary Keyworker © Approach, where only one main professional fronts the service-delivery to the family at any one time. For KidSTART@KKH KIDS 0-3, there are 2 types of professionals who undertake the Keyworker role. Upon recruitment of a pregnant client, the Keyworker role is first undertaken by a KIDS Nurse. The nurse continues the support and educational journey through the prenatal and immediate postnatal period, paving the rapport and way forward for the next professional, a community health visitor (CHV), who will continue the home visits and service with the family till the child turns 3 years old.

Supporting these Keyworkers with the professional skills and knowledge for service delivery are paediatricians, social workers, psychologist, speech and language therapist and an occupational therapist.

To enable the smooth operations and effective service delivery to clients, the team is also supported by administrative and research professionals.

For more information on the KidSTART Programme, please refer to the website www.kidstart.sg.