Materia Medica Malaysiana

Home care connection: "There's a void that exists in caring for patients, especially elderly patients, in the time immediately after their discharge from hospital and before they fully recover from illness. Now there's a home care service that provides care for such patients at home while updating and giving feedback on the patient's recovery to the health care provider."

According to Dr Rajbans Singh, senior lecturer in medicine and head of the Geriatric Unit at University Putra Malaysia, who was speaking at a media conference on home health care, there’s an urgent need for home medical care, especially for patients after their discharge.

Dr Rajbans, who has had extensive involvement in health care of the elderly, was pivotal in setting up the first geriatric unit in the Ministry of Health and subsequently, the Institute of Gerontology in Malaysia.


In the hospital, trained staff care for the patients. Once these patients are discharged, such care falls on the shoulders of the family members, many of whom are busy juggling careers and duties at home.
He observes that the world is ageing, and rapidly. This is inevitably a result of advances in medical science through the years.” The average global lifespan in 1927 was 45 years,” he said. “This increased to 58 in 1950, and to 80 in 1999. Life has been prolonged, but acute disease is not anymore the major cause of death. Today one dies from chronic diseases, metastatic cancer, immune deficiencies and other diseases, with prolonged disability, immobility and dependency,” he notes.

According to Dr Rajbans, the elderly usually have multiple problems and these problems may present differently compared to a younger patient. In addition, the elderly generally are slower to respond to treatment. They also require more extensive social support and early rehabilitation to get them back on their feet.

Hence, the availability of a home health care plan or system can be very useful, not only to the elderly, but also to the family support system. That’s where Home Care Connection (HCC) will make an impact on the lives of many Malaysians.

It’s a service provider that offers comprehensive home care services and medical nutritional products to its members. To achieve this end, it currently has a core group of 12 doctors, 80 nurses and 11 physical therapists for support.

According to Siah Chee Teck, one of the innovators behind HCC, “HCC was developed based on the premise of making home care simple, accessible and reliable. It takes into consideration the comfort and peace of mind of all parties. We believe that good medical care can be available to all in the comfort of their own homes.”

Siah says that at the core of HCC is the referral relationship between the patient, health care provider and HCC itself. As the patient is getting ready to be discharged from the hospital, the health care provider will refer that patient to HCC and subsequently, the patient will receive follow-up care at home through HCC. Through this referral process, HCC serves as an important link for the patient and health care provider as it provides care for the patients at home while updating and giving feedback on the patient’s recovery to the healthcare provider. This is a smart partnership to enhance the recovery process of the patient.

Siah reveals that the services of HCC include specially tailored short or long-term home care by doctors and nurses; delivery of medical nutritional products/medication or medical consumables and home nursing care; 24-hour emergency monitoring systems and ambulance services. Discounts on a range of medical and nutritional products, services and equipment are also available.