To allow space for researchers to identify emerging areas of need and discover novel ideas that may contribute significantly to health outcomes in the medium- to long-term, the PHRG-NIG welcomes applications on all research topics as long as the scope is within the Research Areas designated for the overall PHRG (i.e. Health Promotion and Preventive Health, and Health Services Research). However, we would also like to share information on the following Research Themes that have been prioritised by MOH. If your proposed research is aligned with one or more of these themes, it would be helpful to articulate this in your proposal write-up. More information on the specific questions under each Theme can be found in the Theme Brief document that can be found within the Guide and Application Form zipped file downloadable at the bottom of this page:
- Mental Health
As the demands of modern life have increased, particularly in the face of an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the issue of mental health is on the forefront. This theme will fund research catering to the spectrum of patients with mental health conditions, from children and adolescents in schools, to working adults, to elderly patients. Particular attention will be given to research that improves access to mental healthcare in the community and supports the integration of primary and specialist mental healthcare.
- Care for Mothers and Children
This theme spans the continuum of care from pre-conception, pregnancy and childbirth to infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and research should address metabolic health, mental health and cognitive development of children and their mothers.
- Population Mobilisation and Improved Access in the “War on Diabetes” and Other Common Chronic Diseases
Since declaring a “War on Diabetes” in 2016 to rally the entire nation to tackle diabetes, a range of initiatives and programmes have been implemented as part of the strategy to beat diabetes. While headway has been made in early detection and intervention, more upstream challenges remain to be addressed, including patient education and awareness of disease course, patient ownership of disease management, and socioeconomic barriers to good diabetes control. Besides diabetes, the burden of other chronic diseases will also continue to rise as our population ages. To address these issues, proposals for research submitted under this theme can cover new models of care, strategies, and research pertaining to patient behaviour and education, as well as to create change and societal shifts in enabling access to healthcare for patients with diabetes or other common chronic diseases.
- Effective Use of Technology to Improve Health
What started out as an alternative for patients who prefer a tele-consult in the comfort of their own homes has become increasingly relevant in a post-pandemic world. The use of apps to monitor health and fitness have also become increasingly popular. However, recent incidences of data breaches have also highlighted the need for enhanced cyber-security. This theme will fund research that seeks to identify and create innovative models of care in the areas of telehealth and telemedicine, including for health promotion and preventive health, systems integration and databases, and privacy protection and data security.
- Prevention and Preparedness for Healthy Ageing
This theme seeks to fund research into ideas that can extend healthy and functional lifespan and reduce the impact of disability, with a view for translation or application of solutions that can have a positive impact on our seniors.
- Care for Complex Patients
With the increasing chronic disease burden, patients with multiple morbidities have become the norm and often have poor clinical outcomes. They often require care across multiple care sites (e.g. SOCs, home-based care), and face significant challenges navigating the healthcare system. Research submitted under this theme should address the needs of this patient population, including healthcare access, self-management, and care coordination. This theme will also support research targeted towards allied health and multi-disciplinary team-based care pertaining to the delivery of integrated care, including both medical and non-medical professionals. Strategies that have a community-based focus will be prioritised.
- Sustainable and Efficient Care Delivery
This theme addresses the need to improve the sustainability and efficiency of our healthcare delivery system through improving resourcing and allocation, and approaches such as Value-Based Care. This theme will support research that seeks to optimize resource allocation, improve healthcare manpower productivity, and increase the efficiency of healthcare delivery without compromising quality.
- Palliative Care
As our population ages, palliative care will become increasingly important as we seek to enable patients to live out their final days in a dignified manner. Over the years, Singapore has been enhancing the quality, affordability and accessibility of palliative care services. We have a variety of palliative care options such as the inpatient hospice palliative care, home palliative care and day hospices to cater for different needs and preferences of treatment and places of death. However, with evolving palliative (and end-of-life (EOL)) care models, in addition to challenges such as the current COVID-19 pandemic significantly altering traditional views on care delivery, we are keen on exploring how we can adopt and/or adapt existing palliative care models to offer more holistic, person-centric and cost-efficient options.
- Traditional and Complementary Medicine (T&CM)
As a multi-racial, multi-cultural society, Singapore remains home to individuals of different ethnicities and religions. This diversity plays out in health seeking behaviours as well, with the presence of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), traditional Malay medicine (TMM), and traditional Indian medicine (TIM), although only TCM practitioners are statutorily regulated. This theme will fund research that seeks to understand the prevalence, attitudes and health seeking behaviour of our population with regard to T&CM, with a focus on how Western medicine and T&CM can be used safely together.
- Health Systems Research
Besides improving various care models serving different groups of patients, research at a health systems-level could potentially yield important insights into system-level interventions or policies that may impact health on a wider or deeper scale.
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Rehabilitation (Rehab)
Disability is an important and common Health and Social Determinant in Population Health impacting significantly on outcomes such as Disability and Quality Adjusted Life Years, morbidity, institutionalisation and mortality. The prevalence of severe disability, such as stroke, OA and hip fractures will increase with the aging population and better medical care. Rehabilitation is the principal core intervention for disability. MOH has launched the National One-Rehab Framework aimed at enhancing patient outcomes for six major rehab conditions. PH Research is a key component to evaluate the characteristics, systems, outcomes and trajectories to develop precision-guided PH. HSR will encourage cross-collaboration between the acute, primary and community care providers to develop novel ways of improving rehabilitation care across the care continuum including Interprofessional Care, Extended and Expanded Care provision, Rehab Outcomes Research, Pre-Habilitation in the Healthier SG construct, Early Supported Discharge, Return to Employment, Technology leverages and Telerehabilitation.
Selection of successful proposals would be based on the following evaluation criteria: