On January 21, 2014, the SPH (Singapore Press Holdings) and SRC (Singapore Red Cross) partnered to do the bi-annual blood donation drive. At the end of the activity, there were 120 blood bags collected. The bloodletting activity took place at SPH Auditorium. SPH staffs spearheaded the activity and from 12noon-5pm, the public were invited to join the bloodletting. There were about 170 donors.

It is good to donate blood and help other people. That one bag can save a life. This is a pleasant feeling. If you want to donate blood, you should be prepared. Here are some tips that you can consider:

Before the Donation

If you want to join a bloodletting activity, you have to prepare your body. Extracting one bag of blood will surely weaken you. You can begin by maintaining healthy levels of iron in your body. It is recommended that you eat iron fortified foods (like spinach, beans, cereals, meat and fish) and get a good sleep.

During the Donation

You have to wear something comfortable. When you are at the venue, do not forget to present your donor card or other identification cards. There is no use if you are nervous. You just stay calm and relax. After the extraction, you can help yourself with the refreshments provided.

After the Donation

You need to take care of your body after the extraction. Drinking lots of water for the next 24 hours can greatly improve your condition. Remember that you do not need to indulge in strenuous activities right after the donation. Avoid lifting or exercise for that day. If you get dizzy, you need to stop whatever you are doing and sit down.

Being a parent is a daunting task but if you know some tips, you can easily get through it. Good news for parents out there (or soon-to-be-parents), PA (People’s Association) will launch an online site where parents can get information from sterilizing bottles and utensils to changing diapers. The website will feature practices when it comes to infant care.

Apart from the normal infant care practices, the website will also include babysitting services as well as nearby paediatricians. The best part is that PA plans to perform workshops to furnish new parents (or soon-to-be-parents) with the necessary knowledge to deal with their infants. A helpline will also be established. This project will be completed next year. Meanwhile, you can just refer here:

Feeding

You should know that babies do nothing except cry, sleep and eat. Do not forget to feed the baby. You will know when it is feeding time because the baby will cry. Regardless of your choice (breast milk or formula), it should be enough.

Changing Diapers

The baby needs to be cleaned every now and then. Even if they do not eat much, they still produce waste. Changing diapers should be learned. Changing diapers is not that hard if you follow the directions in the package or you can simply ask your mother to teach you.

Bathing

Infants do not need bathing every day. It is good if you bathe your infant on alternate days. If he/she did not take a bath, you can simply wipe your infant with a clean and soft cloth. You have to deal with the infant’s umbilical cord. Every time you change diapers, you need to clean the surrounding of the cord.

Soothing

When the baby is crying, it may mean two things: he/she is hungry or he/she is not comfortable. If they cry, the first thing that you need to do is feed them. If that does not help, you should check their diapers. If the crying persists, the baby might be in pain. You have to discover it. They will stop when they feel better. Do not forget about your doctor’s appointment.

September marked the WHP (Workplace Health Promotion) Grant. WHP Grant is a project of the Singapore HPB (Health Promotion Board) in partnership with the NTUC WDS (Women’s Development Secretariat). HPB and NTUC WDS seek 1700 women leaders to encourage their employers to join the WHP Grant. The Grant is created to support healthy living through health programmes for women in their workplace.

In addition, the Grant offers financial support to assist organizations or companies commence and maintain health programmes in their workplace. The whole point of this programme is to ensure that women are well-protected in their workplace and that they are supported by their employers. HPB hopes that many companies or organizations join the grant so it will benefit more working women.

Application

Any company or organization in Singapore with at least 5 employees can apply or register. If you are interested, you can apply – all you need is to secure an application form. Application forms are available in the website of the HPB. When you are done filling it, you should send it right away. You will receive notifications of the outcome of the application within 30 (working) days upon after the filing.

Grant Components

The Grant is comprised of 3 components – Mental Health, General Health and Targeted Interventions. When you talk about Mental Health, its services for perfect living singapore include educational activities, counselling, mental health consulting services and mental health support activities; General Health services include assessment (healthy living practices, survey, screening, etc.), training, buying of fitness equipments, physical exercises and many more; while Targeted Intervention covers management programmes (like weight, chronic disease and smoking).

 Grant Values

Singapore considers everyone as vital in nation building. The Grant value is S$15000. Since there are three components, S$15000 will be divided. You should know that you are given 2 choices of funding.

The number 1 choice is for Health Award beneficiaries and new organizations. This will cover the three components, with a limit for General Health services of S$5,000. For the Targeted Intervention and the Mental Health, HPB will fully fund it.
The number two choice is open for Bronze Health Awardees and new organizations. This will only cover two components-General and Mental Health. For the General Health, HPB will grant S$10,000; the organization will also give S$10,000. For the mental Health, HPB will grant S$5000.

Improved Living

The WHP Grant is just one of the many efforts of the government to promote perfect living. Though there are no perfect society, the Grant is a beginning to healthy living. The employees and the employers should do their best to participate in this project. Working women should not solely rely on the programs given by the government. Everyone should do their best to practice and observe healthy living.

Everything will come to waste if the recipients do not practice it in their homes. The healthy programmes should be practiced and extended in the homes too. The government recognizes the vital role of mothers in the health behaviours and practices of their children and other family members. This is not utopia, this is Singapore. We do not expect perfect living but at least we tried reaching it.

Getting sick is part of life. It makes us normal. Though we can avoid any sickness, there will come a time that our defences will weaken. When this happens, we should know basic remedies and treatments to hasten our recovery. If in this case we are suffering from flu, we should keep in mind the following remedies or treatments:

Get plenty of sleep

When we are sick, the basic thing to do is rest and sleep until we feel rejuvenated and new. Some people never consider rest and sleep because they have many things to do. It will not be a waste of time if we give our body a moment to recuperate. We should be reminded that if we don’t rest and sleep, everything will worsen.

Drink a lot of liquid

We should drink plenty of liquid like water and fruit juices. We need to avoid carbonated drinks.

Look for a cloth

If our flu is associated with fever, we should look for a cloth and wash it. After that, we should put the cool and damp cloth on our forehead to reduce the fever. Covering a blanket can help.

To further treat fever, we can choose to take medications like Tylenol, Advil, Aspirin and many others.

Use humidifiers

If flu is associated with difficulty in breathing, we should use humidifiers. We can also consider over the counter ointments like VapoRub.

Use expectorants

If it is associated with cough, we should purchase expectorants that can help loosen mucus or phlegm that way it will be easier to spit.

If the flu, fever and cough persevere for a long time, it is recommended to see the doctor.