Last year, Dr Wong was a jury member on the design panel for the President’s Design Award 2023, organised by DesignSingapore Council ( Dsg ) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
She most recently received a position in Dsg’s People of Design initiative, which honors regular people who are impacting society through style or design thinking.
THE ARTISTS’ Treatment Energy
Before the first nationwide masterplan was released in 2012, Dr. Wong was now working to provide elderly patients with complete attention.
In 2006, she launched the HEaling ARTS or HEARTS Programme at Alexandra Hospital, which included craft activities such as hand painting, handwriting and Chinese clean painting. This was done in collaboration with Dr Tan Ching Yam, an actor and tutor, who volunteered his time and expertise.
The goal was to integrate patients into the group by using craft intervention to give them meaning in their lives.
Dr Wong emphasised a systematic method. ” You ca n’t just treat disability or wish away chronic disease”, she said. ” You need to consider ways to connect to the patient’s head, body and spirit, and enable him or her to sit a’ standard’ life of sufficient meaning”.
The programme yielded tangible rewards, with patients ‘ artworks used on the patient’s greeting cards and business gifts. More significantly, there was a positive effect on the people, with families reporting that they were peaceful.  ,  ,
HELPING CHILDREN AT HOME
A few years later, Dr Wong launched the Ageing-In-Place ( AIP ) Programme at KTPH in response to the overwhelming number of admissions at the A&, E.
Based on a review of 400 people who were referred at least three times in the previous six months, the program was developed. People who lack sufficient household or neighborhood support were more likely to experience repeat hospitalization.
AIP involves medical teams that visit people after they leave the hospital, assessing both the environment they live in as well as providing medical care. This entails doctors, midwives, therapists, pharmacists, and health social workers.