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Social Insights: Vulnerable Persons

Written by Ms Ang Bee Lian (Director of Social Welfare 1 Nov 2013 - 30 Jun 2020; Director-General of Social Welfare 1 Jul 2020 - 31 Jul 2023), these series of letters are for anyone hoping to find out more and answer any questions you might have about Social Work. These are free for reproduction and distribution in its entirety or unaltered excerpts, as long as you do not charge a fee. Acknowledging the source of the letters on any distributed material is also appreciated.

You may download the e-book for Social Insights here: Volume Three, Volume Two and Volume One.

  • Practice Issues
  • Children and Family
  • Fundamentals of Social Work
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Youth

Identifying Cases of Neglect

No. 1 / 2021

We are often asked: is it important to document what transpires in social service interventions? How much information...

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  • Vulnerable Persons

Multi-Disciplinary Teams for Older Persons

No. 3 / 2018

Why is a multidisciplinary team (MDT) especially important in complex cases? Through experience, we know that the range of perspectives...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Children And Family

Caregiving for Elderly

No. 5 / 2018

Many of you would have handled cases with elderly clients who rely heavily on caregivers for assistance in their activities of daily living...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Children And Family

Vulnerable Adults Act

No. 6 / 2018

The Vulnerable Adults Bill has recently been passed. It aims to protect vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect or self-neglect, and to provide timely and effective interventions...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Special Editions
  • Fundamentals of Social Work

Reflections on Social Service Practice

No. 7 / 2018

In recent months, there has been much discussion about the subject of inequality. Academics to political office holders have actively contributed...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Fundamentals of Social Work

Ageing and Family

No. 8 / 2018

With improvements in science and health, people now live longer. This means that there will be more older persons in society...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Children And Family
  • Fundamentals of Social Work

Dilemmas of Protective Work

No. 9 / 2018

Child abuse or neglect can have a long-standing impact across the whole spectrum of the child’s development and life span...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Special Editions
  • Children And Family
  • Vulnerable Persons

National Family Violence Networking System Conference Closing Plenary

Special Edition 2 / 2017

We have done much in the last two decades in systematically building a system for responding to family violence in Singapore...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Fundamentals of Social Work

Early Access to Services by Older People

No. 2 / 2017

In recent months, there has been much discussion about the subject of inequality. Academics to political office holders have actively contributed...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Children And Family
  • Vulnerable Persons

Early Intervention & Stability

No. 6 / 2017

There has been a lot of interest in preventive work, and especially so in the area of early intervention...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons

Promoting Integrated Help for the Elderly

No. 6 / 2016

It is common to hear the exhortation to promote integrated care and collaboration.  What do people generally mean when they say this?...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons

Social Work and Mental Health

No. 7 / 2016

As practitioners, we play a key role in managing risks and complexities that occur in the lives of our clients who are often those who have...

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  • Disability
  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Practice Issues

APS Casework

No. 2 / 2015

You would have, of late, been reading about protecting vulnerable adults particularly the elderly. The services provided will include...

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  • Children And Family
  • Vulnerable Persons

Understanding Policy Issues on Poverty

No. 3 / 2015

By and large, we are fortunate that in a city-state with broadly speaking, good housing means that we do not have to grapple as intensely...

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  • Children And Family
  • Vulnerable Persons

Helping Those With Debt

No. 4 / 2015

Social workers in the course of their work will come across individuals and families who face debt payment problems. Debt payment problems...

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  • Children And Family
  • Youth
  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons

Helping Families with Low Income

No. 7 / 2015

In an earlier letter (“No. 3/ Vol 2/ 2015: Understanding Policy Issues on Poverty”), I touched on how we are fortunate that social work...

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  • Fundamentals of Social Work
  • Children And Family
  • Youth
  • Disability
  • Vulnerable Persons

Re-entry and Integration

No. 16 / 2015

Social work in the criminal justice system and in particular in aftercare is crucial work although it takes place in a secondary...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Fundamentals of Social Work
  • Vulnerable Persons

Advocacy

No. 8 / 2014

Advocacy is certainly one of the key values that social work adheres to. It is part and parcel of the mission of social work which is...

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  • Vulnerable Persons

Vulnerable Persons

No. 13 / 2014

It is common for a case involving a vulnerable person to be surfaced to an agency through a phone call or an email with some information...

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  • Vulnerable Persons
  • Children And Family

Older Persons and Neglect

No. 14 / 2014

There is now more news about older persons who are subjects of questionable influence, neglect and abuse or fraudulent activity...

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  • Practice Issues
  • Vulnerable Persons

Risk Assessment

No. 15 / 2014

We hear about how social workers and caseworkers should conduct risk assessment and consider how to manage the risks. In reality, activities...

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