Usha Chandradas on advancing mental health

The arts have an important role to play in preventive and curative healthcare, with a whole sliding scale of use for therapeutic purposes, said NMP Usha Chandradas. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 6), she said they have a key role to play in every tier of Singapore's national mental health and well-being strategy. Resources should be put in place to ensure that more relevant data is obtained and that the practitioners of arts wellness initiatives are well-supported. Ms Chandradas pointed out that Singapore has all the basic building blocks and its national mental wellness strategies should explicitly include arts therapies and arts-related wellness initiatives. She urged the Government to commit resources towards supporting the arts community in this direction. It can dedicate more funding towards research and implement some kind of formal accreditation and regulations system. With growing interest in the field, there is an opportunity to create new and better jobs for the community, she said. Turning to the mental health issues faced by the arts community, Ms Chandradas said for a national mental health and well-being strategy to be effective, mental wellness initiatives should be extended to the self-employed.