Hansard Explorer

Mr David Hoe asked the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health since the launch of national mindline 1771 (a) what are the most common presenting issues among help-seekers, including younger adults where age is known; (b) whether the issue profile differs across hotline, WhatsApp and webchat channels; and (c) how these insights inform upstream mental health support.

The Senior Minister of State for Health (Mr Tan Kiat How) (for the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health): Sir, the three most common issues encountered by national mindline 1771 help-seekers, including younger adults aged 20 to 35, are related to emotional needs, mental health challenges, such as anxiety and workplace burnout, and relationship problems. These trends are similarly observed across all three channels.

These insights inform the self-help resources on mindline.sg, our staff's training, and referral pathways to other services to support clients' needs.

Mr Speaker: Mr Hoe.

Mr David Hoe (Jurong East-Bukit Batok): Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the Senior Minister of State for his response.

My four supplementary questions. The first is, I would like to clarify what is the scope of the mindline service. In other words, what can an individual call 1771 for? For instance, could an individual call 1771 to speak about his or her day at work? Is this an appropriate hotline that he or she can call?

My second question is, I understand that mindline seeks to serve all Singaporeans. Based on the data collected since its launch, how does the Ministry track whether it has been able to achieve its intended outcomes?

The third, I would like to clarify whether does the Ministry track the drop-off rates for all the various channels and have we studied the reason why that contributed to the drop-off, and would this also help to inform the subsequent review of the products?

Finally, I would like to ask if the Senior Minister of State is able to clarify whether mindline works with relevant agencies to support individuals experiencing employment-related distress, such as those going through retrenchment or finding job employment with some level of difficulties?

Mr Tan Kiat How: Sir, I thank the Member for his four supplementary questions. As the questions are related, I will take them together.

First, let me clarify that Singaporeans do not have to wait until they are in crisis or where problems become too acute before they call the mindline, or 1771. Someone who is feeling anxious, overwhelmed, lonely or simply going through a difficult period in their life can call the 1771 helpline or access the resources for mindline.

So, let me just reiterate. If someone is feeling anxious, overwhelmed or feel that they need to speak to someone as they are going through a difficult period in their day or life, please call mindline. That was the intent and purpose of setting up mindline and 1771.

Counsellors on mindline provide a listening ear and offer initial emotional support, and help callers decide whether further support is required. So, just a reassurance to those who are thinking about calling mindline or assessing those resources, please avail yourself to those resources.

However, I would just like to clarify also that the mindline is not intended to be a general companion resource and for everyday conversations. Certainly, we do want people to seek help before problems become crises or stress becomes too acute, but mindline is not set up for general everyday conversation if you want to speak to someone. So, that is the first point that I would like to highlight.

Second, the mindline is intended for Singaporeans of all ages. It is not particular for any age. It is for all ages. We recognise that different groups of Singaporeans of different age groups may have different preferences and needs whilst seeking help. And that is also the thinking why we have the 1771 hotline, but we have the WhatsApp channel and website as well. Because we want to try to cater to as many different channels and different preferences and needs that different age groups may have. So, that is the second point. It is meant to cover all age groups.

Third is around the age group dropout rates, and I think the consideration of whether it is supporting any particular group. I think that could be the question or thinking behind the Member's question. I must add that most help-seekers do not explicitly reveal their age or gender. And we do not proactively or explicitly ask them for those details because it is intended to support all who seek help. So, based on counsellors' interaction with help-seekers, gender could be determined in approximately only about 38% of the cases. We could make a guess, estimate, but may not be precise; and with fairly equal numbers of males and females. Most of the help-seekers are willing to disclose their age as between 20 and 35 as a broad age band, but they may not want to give us a specific age. So, just to share with the Member that this is the approach when we deal with people who call in or who access our resources.

And the distribution of help-seekers across the hotline, WhatsApp messaging and web chat messaging channels is approximately 60%, 25% and 15%, respectively.