Advancing Population Health through the Agape Professorship

Prof Ng’s interest in investigating and solving community health issues did not wane when he returned to Malaysia to practise as a family physician and teach at the University of Malaya. There were still gaps in medical practice and teaching which he felt needed to be addressed. So, despite his love for teaching and with the support of his university, he decided to delve into research and embarked on a three-year PhD in Shared Decision Making at the University of Sheffield, UK.

 

“Family medicine research at that time was in its infancy. To answer questions and solve problems, it was necessary to use systematic, rigorous and scientific methods. To get people to trust your research, you need to show them the evidence,” he explained.   

The three years Prof Ng spent on his PhD redefined his perspective of how medicine should be practised. His research into shared decision-making convinced him that patients should be active participants in their own care. To achieve better health outcomes, doctors and other healthcare providers should be equipped with the necessary insights and skills to engage with patients more effectively.   

 

“Population health is really about looking at things from the patient’s and public’s perspective. You need to understand what’s on the ground – that’s when you discover how people think, what is important to them and what are the environmental influences that shape their behaviour. Avoid treating all patients the same way as they have different biopsychosocial needs and social determinants.”

 

Shared decision-making was an unheard concept back in those days. When he presented his findings at a faculty conference back in Malaysia, he recalled the feedback: “I was told that it won’t work here. Patients want doctors to tell them what to do.” To that end, he conducted a two-year study which revealed that 70% of people wanted to be involved in the decision-making for their own care. 

Since then, Prof Ng has ventured into relatively new areas like Digital Health and Implementation Science, collaborating across disciplines with professionals ranging from human-computer interface experts to UI/UX designers to linguists, in order to develop more effective patient engagement tools.

 

As Agape Professor in Population Health, Prof Ng wants to leverage technology and available resources to reach those who needs the most help – people with low health literacy, psychosocial issues and those with difficulty accessing care. Working hand-in-hand with other like-minded agencies such as SingHealth Centre for Population Health Research and Implementation (CPHRI), NTU’s Centre for Healthy and Sustainable Cities (CHESS) and on-ground social service providers like Montfort Care, he hopes to improve the quality of care for these segments, so that they can lead healthier and more fulfilling lives.

 

Reflecting on his role and why it’s worth doing, he says, “As a clinician, my influence on patients’ health is limited, whereas in population health, the opportunities are huge. By translating research to interventions, we can ensure that there are services in place in their homes, community and larger public environment to support them.”