Update on Ministerial Committee on Ageing

21 October 2013

Question No. 1544

Name of Person:  Dr Lam Pin Min

Question

To ask the Minister for Health if he can provide an update on the initiatives of the Ministerial Committee on Ageing (MCA) in managing the ageing population in Singapore and whether the recent study trip to Japan has resulted in changes to MCA's strategy.

Answer

1.                 The Ministerial Committee on Ageing’s (MCA’s) vision is to enable seniors to age-in-place gracefully.  We aim to achieve this in two ways – first, to keep seniors healthy, active and safe in the community and second, to provide good aged care.

2.                 On the first focal area of keeping seniors healthy, active and safe, the Wellness Programme has been rolled out to all constituencies as of end-2012. The programme reaches out to seniors and encourages them to participate in physical and social activities.

3.                 In the past year, MSF has set-up eleven new Senior Activity Centres (SACs) at rental flats and studio apartments, bringing the total number to 56 SACs today.  These centres provide convenient nodes within the community where seniors can drop in to interact and participate in regular social activities.

4.                 HDB also introduced the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme to provide subsidised home modification services, such as slip-resistant treatment to toilet and bathroom flooring and the installation of grab bars and ramps where technically feasible,  to keep seniors safe at home. As at 30 Sept 2013, about 14,300 households had successfully signed up for EASE.

5.                 At the community level, 11 constituencies have introduced the City For All Ages (CFAA) Project to make their communities senior-friendly. Under this project, community leaders and residents in various communities come together to promote health screening and exercises, suggest hardware improvements around the town and introduce new befriending programmes to make their communities senior-friendly.

6.                 Let me now move on to the second area of the MCA’s focus, that is, to enhance aged care in terms of better accessibility, quality and affordability. First, we are ramping up the capacity for aged care services. By the end of this year, we would have added around 1,000 more nursing home (NH) beds to the stock of 9,000 NH beds in 2011. We are on track to meet our target of 15,600 NH beds by 2020. We have also opened three new Senior Care Centres (SCCs) which added 170 day care places to the 2,100 places that we had. Three more SCCs will open within the next six months, and we are on track to meet our target of 6,200 SCC places by 2020. We are also working to add capacity to the homecare sector, to serve an additional 1,100 new home healthcare clients and 1,300 new social homecare clients by the end of this year, up from 3,400 and 2,200 respectively. We are on track to meet our target of up to 10,000 home healthcare clients and 7,500 social homecare clients by 2020.

7.                 Second, we are also working to improve the quality of aged care. In 2012, we set up a nursing home work group to review existing standards and identify areas that could be enhanced.  They have commenced their industry consult, and we hope to introduce the enhanced standards by 2015.  Meanwhile, industry-led work groups have also been set up to similarly review the community care and home care sector.  In parallel, we are working to develop new models of integrated and people-centred care that cater to seniors’ health and social needs. For example, social and health services are now integrated at SCCs, where seniors can receive day rehabilitation services and day care services. 

8.                 Third, we are also working to address seniors’ concerns regarding the affordability of healthcare and aged care. Last year, we expanded the Intermediate and Long Term Care (ILTC) subsidy framework to cover two-thirds of resident households.  This year, we expanded the Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund to provide more support for seniors to remain mobile and live independently in the community. 

9.                 The recent study visit to Japan was a useful one. Today, one in five Japanese are over the age of 65. By 2030, Singapore will be as old as Japan today.  

10.            The visit validates many of the strategies of the MCA, such as the importance of promoting active ageing, including giving options for the elderly to remain in the workforce. One key lesson that stood out for us is the need to build up homecare services early to facilitate ageing in place, even as we build up nursing home capacity. The Japanese shared with us that they face an urgent need to build up the homecare sector to help meet the demand for long term care. The Japanese also shared with us that more than 60% of respondents to a survey of Japanese seniors indicated that they preferred to receive care at home. Earlier this year, MOH set up a Homecare Work Group to review strategies for developing home care in Singapore.  The Work Group is developing a roadmap to enhance the homecare sector in Singapore and it is expected to complete its review by early next year.