Overall, small business owners are more optimistic about the economic
recovery than the general population, which may be a leading indicator of the future direction of overall consumer sentiment.
In Singapore, cancer is still seen as a terminal disease with little hope of
recovery, and there is also a stigma against psychological counselling and psychiatric support, facilitated by the
general stigma against mental illness amongt both patients and, paradoxically, healthcare professionals.67 Furthermore, a family - centred model of decision - making tends to be predominant in Asian
populations, 68 and in Singapore this is further encouraged by public policy such as healthcare subsidies that are based on a calculation of the immediate family's total income, rather
than individual income.69 Beliefs or expectations of the role that the family caregiver ought to play may thus exist and may influence the way individuals respond to the intervention.