On this podcast, I’ve traditionally featured the research and social work and projects of others. I make a small exception today, because I want to share about two recent research journal articles I’ve published, which, I think, in an interesting fashion, draws from earlier episodes I produced for past seasons of this socialservice.sg podcast.
“Seeking Shelter: Homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore” is the country’s second nationwide street count of its unhoused and homeless, conducted in 2021. With its authors Dr. Ng Kok Hoe and Jeyda Simren Sekhon Atac, we begin by reviewing the first street count and report in 2019. Thereafter, we dive deeper into their most recent report, to understand the state of homelessness during COVID-19, explore the role of social policy, and discuss volunteer engagement and ethical priorities.
Last year, the Lien Centre for Social Innovation published Singapore’s first nationally representative food insecurity study, finding that about 10 per cent of Singaporean households experienced food insecurity at least once in the last 12 months. This year, the centre’s updated, second part of “The Hunger Report” explored two related questions. First, what is the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity in Singapore? And second, how can the unique needs of food-insecure families be met? We take a deeper dive into the report with members of the report team, Dr. Dalvin Sidhu, Dr. Tania Nagpaul, and Ms. Ng Weng Lin.
Using two child cohorts, Dr. Jonathan Huang and his team at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Studies at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research sought to understand – in a journal article – the lifestyle changes experienced by Singaporean children after the country’s circuit-breaker as well as the potential long-term outcomes. In our conversation, we learn more about the research findings and methodology, future directions, and the potential practice and policy implications.
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