Driving holistic care

The Social Service Sector Strategic Roadmap (4ST) is the National Council of Social Service’s (NCSS) guide for empowering individuals, strengthening communities and fostering a more caring and inclusive society. It comprises four strategic thrusts that provide actionable steps and best practices for stakeholders to drive organisational growth and sector-wide impact.

AWWA actively leverages innovative technology and digital solutions to shape a future-directed social service sector. Read on to find out more.

At the AWWA Early Intervention Centre (EIC) @ Fernvale Woods, the hum of 3D printers fills its Makerspace, a dedicated area equipped with technology to help staff and caregivers design and adapt toys for children with special developmental needs.

Since launching its first maker space, Lab Integrate, at its Lorong Napiri headquarters in 2012, AWWA has invested in a myriad of tools, devices and technologies to enhance the way it delivers its services. With these resources readily available, AWWA’s employees are empowered to develop innovative solutions that improve outcomes for service users of all ages, from preschoolers to seniors.

Ms Cheryl Chia, one of AWWA’s occupational therapists, is one of the employees who leveraged these resources. The adaptive toys initiative began as a pilot project for Ms Chia, who recognised the challenges that children with moderate to severe disabilities face when playing with standard toys. She observed the children’s difficulty holding the toys securely or pressing small switches with precision. Inspired to take action, Ms Chia used self-taught skills from YouTube tutorials and began modifying toys to better suit the specific needs of children enrolled at EIC @ Fernvale Link.

What began as a single innovative idea by Ms Chia evolved into a full-fledged AWWA service activity, including workshops that teach parents how to modify toys. Her initiative is one of many staff-led projects that AWWA supports with funding and resources, reinforcing its commitment to client-centric, holistic care.

Problem solving from the ground up

Mr JR Karthikeyan is the CEO of AWWA, one of Singapore’s largest social service agencies with over 1,000 employees at 17 locations across the city-state. According to him, developing a culture of continuous improvement and innovation is key to enhancing the organisation’s holistic care approach.

At AWWA, employees who identify on-the-ground challenges are empowered to form taskforces. These teams are tasked with pinpointing tech and digital solutions that can effectively address these issues.

AWWA developed adaptive toys to help children with disabilities overcome challenges in playing with standard toys.

Supported by AWWA’s partnerships with organisations from both public and private sectors, these taskforces gain access to the resources, skills and financial backing necessary to pitch, develop and scale these solutions.

One notable example is AWWA’s Dementia Interactive Robo-Advisor (DIRA), a platform designed to help caregivers of people living with dementia navigate available resources and services. The team at AWWA realised that despite the growing prevalence of dementia in Singapore, there was no centralised platform for dementia resources. Given the unique challenges at each stage of the condition, caregivers and people living with dementia needed clear, well-organised information and easy access to a dementia screening tool.

According to Mr JR Karthikeyan (second from right), AWWA’s commitment to continuous innovation and improvement is key to enhancing its holistic care approach.

Developed in collaboration with partners such as Dementia Singapore, Allkin Singapore and TOUCH Community Services, DIRA’s online platform offers a range of resources tailored to caregivers’ needs. These include a self-screening checklist to help identify signs of dementia and its possible stage, curated articles and support materials for each stage of the disease, and a service locator to connect caregivers with nearby dementia care providers.

DIRA received initial funding through a seed grant from the National Council of Social Service’s (NCSS) Sector Design Challenge. Today, DIRA complements AWWA’s range of dementia resources, including the Dementia Day Care Centre services, the Care Beyond Walls programme, where seniors with dementia take part in activities at partner organisations, and Kampung AWWA, an integrated social hub for seniors, caregivers and residents in Ang Mo Kio.

Developing future-ready capabilities

In addition to the laboratory at its headquarters in Lorong Napiri, which is equipped with tech and digital resources like 3D printers and virtual reality headsets, AWWA plans to expand its makerspaces across its centres. This will enable staff to build adaptive items for clients as and when needed.

For instance, instead of having to visit a store to purchase a specialised writing tool for a child with difficulty grasping a pen, AWWA staff can simply design and print it on-site.

According to Mr Karthikeyan, one challenge AWWA faced in leveraging technology and innovation was overcoming staff’s misconceptions that their ideas were not useful and relevant, and encouraging them to share suggestions and observations.

To equip employees with future-ready skills such as experimentation, design thinking and proposal development, AWWA worked with Boston Consulting Group’s BCG X on an internal innovation drive named AWWAke, which is entering its second iteration this year.

Ten taskforce teams, each with a problem statement, are selected to undergo coaching from BCG X in skills such as creating presentation decks and pitching. These teams then present their solutions to a judging panel comprising AWWA management and BCG X staff. The winners receive funding and support to develop their pilot projects.

One in five employees participated in the first edition of AWWAke. Staff from various roles collaborated to produce over 44 group submissions, demonstrating strong engagement and a desire to contribute.

The ongoing quest for innovation

Mr Karthikeyan emphasised that AWWA’s culture of continuous improvement and innovation is always in service of a greater good: Providing effective and all-encompassing care for its clients.

To foster a culture of innovation, AWWA collaborates with a wide range of partners, including institutes of higher learning, private companies and government agencies such as NCSS, said Mr Karthikeyan.

To foster a culture of innovation within the organisation, AWWA collaborates with a diverse group of partners.

“Partnerships are very important. Without collaboration, there are no solutions. As a partner focused on building the capabilities of social service agencies, NCSS has been an invaluable resource for AWWA,” Mr Karthikeyan shared. “We appreciate their support, from providing access to information to guiding us, offering feedback and connecting us with different partners across all levels.”

While innovation within social service can sometimes be resource-intensive, he said that AWWA remains committed to its client-centric care approach, fortified by tech-driven innovation.

“At the end of the day, not all solutions may be immediately useful or widely adopted, but we always learn something from the process,” Mr Karthikeyan said. “I encourage my team not to focus on the problems and get frustrated, but to see them as opportunities to improve, innovate and collaborate with our partners to develop solutions that truly make a difference.”

Learn more about NCSS Social Service Sector Strategic Roadmap (4ST) and find out how you can become a partner in the social service ecosystem.