Caring for someone comes with questions no app can answer — how to actually lift someone safely, what financial help exists, where to find people who understand. Singapore has real organisations for all of this. Here is who does what.
Kinu isn't a replacement for these organisations. We point you to them because they know caregiving better than any app can. Everything below links out to them directly — details like grant amounts and eligibility do change, so treat their site as the source of truth.
What do you need right now?
What are you dealing with?
9 places to look
Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)
AIC keeps a catalogue of hands-on courses for family caregivers — things like moving someone safely, helping with washing and dressing, managing medication at home, and caring for someone after a stroke. Courses are run by hospitals and community providers across Singapore. If you have ever thought "nobody actually showed me how to do this", this is the place to start.
Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)
A government subsidy that covers the cost of approved caregiver training courses for your family each year, so learning how to care for someone properly does not become another bill. Eligibility rules and the yearly amount are set by AIC and do change — check with them for the current figure and how to apply.
Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)
AIC can point you to caregiver support groups running near you — small, regular meetings with other people looking after a parent or spouse. Most caregivers who go say the relief is less about advice and more about finally being in a room where nobody needs the situation explained to them.
Caregivers Alliance (CWA)
CWA runs structured programmes and peer support sessions specifically for family caregivers, including people caring for someone with mental health conditions or dementia. Their focus is on the caregiver's own wellbeing — not just the person being cared for, which is unusual and worth knowing about.
AWWA
AWWA supports family caregivers directly — including counselling by trained professionals, caregiver training, and day care and respite options that give you a genuine break. A good first call if you are stretched thin and not sure what kind of help you even need yet.
AIC and AWWA
Respite care means someone else looks after your family member for a while — a few hours at a day centre, or a short stay somewhere — so you can rest, work, travel or recover. It is not giving up, and it is not a sign you are failing. It is the normal, planned way that people keep caregiving sustainable over years instead of months.
Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)
Several schemes exist to reduce the cost of caring for an elderly family member — subsidies towards medical fees, help with mobility aids and home equipment, and grants towards caregiver training. Which ones you qualify for depends on household income and your family member's needs. AIC is the place that assesses this properly and handles applications, so start there rather than guessing.
Dementia Singapore
Caring for someone with dementia raises questions that general eldercare advice does not answer — how to respond to repeated questions, what to do when they do not recognise you, how to keep them safe without taking away their independence. Dementia Singapore runs caregiver programmes and support groups built specifically around this.
Project We Forgot
A community aimed at younger people caring for a parent or grandparent with dementia — often while also working or raising their own children. Useful if you have ever felt like the only person your age dealing with this.
If you or the person you care for is in immediate danger, call 995. If you are struggling to cope and need to talk to someone now, the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) helpline is 1767 and operates 24 hours.