Building a Safe Haven for LB Seniors and Fellow Colleagues: Angeline Ang
Staff threw a heart-warming birthday celebration for Angeline Ang, head of HPC, a department that emphasises on celebrating every staff’s small milestones in life.
While waiting for Angeline Ang to arrive for the interview, her infectious laughter and warm greetings could be heard echoing down the hallway. Angeline Ang’s bubbly personality is a ray of sunshine at LB’s Home Personal Care (HPC). HPC is one of the services that LB provides for vulnerable seniors to live with greater independence in the comfort of their own homes. We sit down with Angeline, head of HPC, who shares with us that passion, dedication and love for seniors are the drivers that often lead her to go the extra mile in whatever she does at LB.
Tell us more about yourself.
I used to be a Senior Staff Nurse at a hospital and a medical centre for about 20 years. Afterwards, I joined LB to help establish the HPC programme in May 2017.
What are the services currently provided under the HPC programme, and how many clients does it serve?
To list some, HPC provides assistance in personal hygiene, activities of daily living such as housekeeping and feeding, light grocery shopping, medication reminder, as well as helping seniors perform simple maintenance exercises as prescribed by their physiotherapist or occupational therapist. At present, there are about 200 clients under HPC, and the number is growing.
That is a whopping number of services alongside a sizeable client base. How many Healthcare Assistants are serving in this programme with you?
There are currently about 10 Healthcare Assistants who are permanent full-time staff. They serve an average of 5 clients a day. LB Healthcare Assistants are trained in CPR and AED usage. They also received training for Tracheostomy Care, Stoma Care, basic vital signs assessments, management of clients on urinary catheter and care of clients on oxygen therapy. In the near future, they will also be trained in basic wound dressings.
HPC staff’s quarterly bonding session over a meal.
How would you describe the camaraderie among the staff at HPC? Any tips to share on employee engagement?
Many of our staff are recruited from Daughters of Tomorrow, a social organisation which assists women facing multiple stressors in their families. We provide
skill-upgrading for our staff as they work. Here in HPC, we are like one big family. For example, we gather twice a week after work to share what we learnt at work and exchange ideas on how to serve our clients better. This is also a chance for the staff to update one another on what is happening in their lives. Once every 4 months, we have bonding over a meal gathering which is open to the families of the staff to attend, so as to provide community support to their families as well. Besides that, we also make an effort to come together to celebrate special occasions together like birthday celebrations and house-warming sessions.
What are some amusing experiences you have encountered with your clients?
Once, there was a client who had just moved into a new high-floor apartment and he called me urgently, saying that there was a ghost in his flat as he kept
hearing a distressing sound at night. Upon investigation, we found out that it was the windy conditions of his new dwelling place that made those noises. Also, there is a client who is hard on hearing and couldn’t hear me and my knocks when I visited. Hence I shot rubber bands into the house to get his attention – which worked!
What are the emerging trends in an ageing society you see today in which HPC is making a positive impact?
Regardless of financial background, there is an increasing number of seniors living alone who do not have family members. There was a recent case in which we saw a 101-yearold man who had lost several close relatives over the years and has no next-of-kin who can care for him. However, thanks to the HPC programme, we are able to help him regain independence in life again.