When we were much younger, freedom reigns over health. Back then, we were young, wild and free. Why would we even bother about what we eat or drink? The wake-up calls often come in a little too late when you realise that you had tipped the scale, looked haggard or contracted some form of illnesses, which you would have never expected yourself to have. It’s never too early or too late to take control of your health by being conscious of what you eat, drink, do and think. That is the reason why I took charge of my health a few years back – studying food labels, finding out more about nutrition and even incorporating exercise into my lifestyle.
At my workplace, they offer free health screening, which is great because it is good to check if your sugar blood levels and cholesterol levels are in the healthy range. Such health screenings are necessary especially when you feel that your body is not feeling quite right. As the Health Promotion Board’s mantra goes ‘early detection is key’; we should try to arrest the problem before it gets worse.
But with so many health screenings around, which one should I go for? Would I have to fork out thousands for all these health screenings? Thankfully, there is a co-operative here in Singapore that helps its members to enjoy affordable healthcare and wellness programmes. It’s like a community comprising of specialist doctors, health coaches, interest groups and like-minded members who motivate each other to “live long, live well, live carefree”. Yes, there’s a group of passionate people who is willing to help you stay healthy and to live a fulfilling life!
The Good Life Co-operative was formed to provide members with access to quality healthcare, which is affordable and accessible to all so that everyone, whether young or old and from any background, can lead healthy lives. They offer help through the following ways:
- Wellness programmes (e.g mobile clinic, public forums) to provide members with access to discounted medical or care services. There also have a wellness bus, which houses a mobile clinic that is free for all. The wellness bus seeks to provide full health assessment and bring health literacy to more individuals. Additionally, health coaches are available on the wellness bus to assist visitors with basic health screenings.
- It provides members with a strong support network comprising of specialist doctors, health coaches, interest groups and like-minded individuals. Health coaches help to conduct health assessments and offer professional advice to help you understand your healthcare choices. They comprise of certified nurses who have gone through additional professional training to provide accurate advice and information on health knowledge, products and services. These individuals are just a call away if you have any health related questions or would like to get information on products that best suit your needs. You can call their hotline to seek medical advice such as which medications to take or which doctor to consult.
- The co-op offers customised health screening and care plans to help members achieve their health goals and targets.
To enjoy these benefits, all you simply have to do is to sign up for their membership packages (basic and premium plans) that come with a year-long regular follow-up from the health coaches. Basic plans start from $99 and include a one-time free health screening tests.
For a more comprehensive health service, you can sign up for their premium plans, which provides you access to health coaching sessions as well as a specialist consultation in addition to the one-time free screening tests. To find out more about the member benefits, click here.
What would really benefit me the most would be the strong network of specialist doctors and health coaches. My Dad’s episode with an inexperienced doctor had landed him in the hospital for several days even though he was just going to the hospital for a health screening. My advice is to always seek a good, professional and trusted doctor who would see to your needs. As such, seeking for medical advice is made so much more convenient when you are already part of a community that promotes mutual-help.
The Good Life Co-operative is one of the registered co-operatives (co-ops for short) in Singapore under the Singapore National Co-operative Federation (SNCF).
SNCF is the apex body for the Singapore co-operative movement which has been around for over 90 years. Formed by members for members, co-operatives (co-ops for short) are regulated social enterprises that exist to do well and do good. Today, 67 co-operatives in Singapore are affiliated with the Singapore National Co-operative Federation serving different social needs, from credit co-ops that provide financial assistance to Singaporeans to consumer and service co-ops that provide a wide range of services such as healthcare, childcare and eldercare, insurance, to supermarkets, employment services and food courts.
Co-ops allow members to embrace the values of self and mutual help to address rising social needs such as an ageing population. In doing so, co-ops work towards achieving a common economic and social end to benefit not only the members but also the community at large.
For more information, check out the following websites and follow their FB pages for more updates.
The Good Life Co-operative Website: https://www.thegoodlifecoop.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegoodlifecoop/
SNCF Website: http://www.sncf.org.sg/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sncf.singapore
