The healing touch
Assoc Prof Teo explaining a point in class
While having HIV no longer means a death sentence, those afflicted with the disease still face a fate much worse — stigmatisation.
Associate Professor Albert Teo, Director of the Chua Thian Poh Leadership Programme at NUS, is not only determined to change this, but has fully embraced HIV patients, literally touching them both physically and psychologically. For his unwavering support, he won not just the hearts of patients at the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, but also the Singapore Patient Advocate Award (Individual), part of the National Healthcare Group’s inaugural Singapore Patient Action Awards.
Assoc Prof Teo, an NUS alumnus, pursued his PhD in Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Motivated by his religious faith, he volunteered at three organisations for the marginalised, and encountered his first AIDS patients at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. The stints exposed him to “an alternative world I never knew existed”, he said.
After returning to Singapore, Assoc Prof Teo was caught up in the hectic life of teaching and research at NUS. He could only revisit his voluntary calling in 2001 and later underwent a training programme at CDC to become a certified volunteer.
Initially, Assoc Prof Teo found it difficult to talk to patients or support them by providing meals. Just when he was doubting his ability to contribute, he had the idea of using massage, rather than words, as a means to comfort patients. This approach proved effective and became a form of touch therapy approved by CDC. Ultimately the touch therapy brought relief and “sent a very strong signal of acceptance to a community that is stigmatised”, he noted.
This healing technique has since been included as part of the training for new CDC volunteers. Over the years, Assoc Prof Teo, who is also a Deputy Director of University Scholars Programme and a faculty member of NUS Business School, has recruited some 30 students as volunteers. In any given week, more than 10 volunteers visit the HIV patients, providing befriender support and touch therapy. The volunteers have also extended their service to older patients in the step-down care wards at the hospital.
As the stalwart of the Saturday volunteer group for almost 15 years, Assoc Prof Teo turns up nearly every weekend. He said simply, “If I can’t do that, how can I urge the others to be regular in their volunteering?” He attributed his own perseverance to discipline, even though the attrition rate of volunteers is high.
“The takeaways of volunteering far exceed the time and efforts that I give,” he stressed. The intangibles include witnessing acts of unconditional love, learning to be more empathetic and less judgmental, and seeing the optimism of some of the worst-off patients. “You get inspired by their optimism, their joy in spite of the adversity,” he explained, and their mortality makes him cherish each day more.
The strong advocate for HIV patients would like the community to view volunteering as more than just the giving of time and efforts. “Volunteering is really about receiving more than what you give. And what you receive are those intangibles that really make life meaningful,” he assured.
Assoc Prof Teo is Deputy Director (Student Life) at the University Scholars Programme
