(Press-News.org)
SINGAPORE, 28 October 2025 – A new report from the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI), supported by the Octava Foundation, has mapped Singapore’s programmes supporting children’s mental health.
The study, Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in Singapore: A Landscape Brief, reviewed 43 programmes across public, private and civil society providers. While it found a vibrant ecosystem committed to accessibility and inclusion, with strong momentum and promising initiatives, the report also noted some areas to strengthen, including fragmentation, workforce gaps, and a lack of sustainable funding. Mental health disorders currently account for 28.2% of the disease burden among children, adolescents, and young adults.
Key findings
The report identifies a dynamic and committed landscape of mental health support for children in Singapore. The mapping of 43 programmes reveals a strong foundation, with many initiatives effectively combining promotion, prevention, and literacy, and being deeply embedded within schools and communities. Building on this, the study points to an opportunity to enhance coordination and create more seamless support pathways between these valuable services:
Funding: Programmes need sustainable, multi-year funding to deliver deeper, long-term impact and support robust evaluation and workforce development.
System gaps: Stronger coordination is required to create seamless support pathways across the 43 mapped programmes.
Evidence and evaluation: Rigorous evaluation methods should be embedded from the outset to strengthen effectiveness and accountability.
Workforce capacity: The specialised child mental health workforce needs building to meet demand and improve service quality.
Participation barriers: Uptake is limited by time constraints; participation increases when activities are framed around practical life skills.
Engagement levers: Direct involvement of caregivers and teachers improves programme success and should be prioritised.
Age skew: Provision is largely school-based and geared towards older children; the crucial 3–5 age group remains under-served.
Inclusion: While many programmes adapt for different cultures, languages, and abilities, expansion in early years is needed to realise equitable access.
Recommendations
The following highlight some of the key recommendations to strengthen funding, capacity, coordination, and child-centred practice across Singapore’s children’s mental health ecosystem; further recommendations are detailed in the full report.
Funding: Complement existing grants with multiyear funding to sustain delivery, build expert teams, and scale successful pilots.
Workforce capacity: Invest in training, upskilling, and retention across health, education, and social sectors; use tasks-haring models with strong supervision to expand reach.
Early years: Expand interventions for the crucial 3–5 age group and equip parents and early educators with practical social-emotional tools.
Sector coordination: Support platforms for knowledge exchange, referrals, and codesign among schools, community organisations, healthcare providers, and government.
Child participation: Move beyond protection-only models to embed child-friendly information, voice, and choice, ensuring children actively shape their wellbeing journey.
Reflecting on the report's findings, the authors and their partners emphasise that turning these insights into lasting impact will require a whole-of-society effort:
“Overcoming hurdles like stigma and limited access requires a unified, collaborative effort," said Professor Anne-Claire Stona, lead of the Global Mental Health Programme at SDGHI. "This report provides a data-driven roadmap for our partners to strengthen Singapore’s children’s mental health ecosystem and ensure every child can flourish.”
Raman Sidhu, CEO of Octava Foundation, noted: “This landscape map shows strong intent in Singapore to secure the mental wellbeing of our children and young people — even as sustained funding and delivery capacity are still developing. Strong mental wellbeing foundations are built in childhood. We need sustained investment in prevention and promotion efforts, alongside capacity-building for locally designed, evidence-informed solutions. At Octava Foundation, we are committed to supporting preventive and promotive approaches that strengthen mental wellbeing through the formative years.”
Methodology of the study
The study used a mixed-methods approach: a semi-structured survey mapping 43 programmes; 32 in-depth interviews with programme leads and practitioners; and a validation workshop with 47 stakeholders across public, private and non-profit sectors. The work aligns with the WHO–UNICEF Service Guidance on the Mental Health of Children and Young People (2024) and Singapore’s National Mental Health and Well-being Strategy (2023).
Call to action
Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in Singapore: A landscape brief invites funders, policymakers, schools and community organisations to collaborate on:
Multi-year, flexible funding models that prioritise equity and scale
Workforce development for child-focused mental health across sectors
Early-years (3–5) interventions and parent-facing supports
Shared evaluation and referral infrastructure to reduce fragmentation
Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing in Singapore: A landscape brief is available from the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute here.
END
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