COMMUNITY CARE APARTMENTS, SENIOR-FRIENDLY NEIGHBOURHOODS
Mr Ong touched on three other areas that will be part of the scheme. The network of active ageing centres is expanding and the centres are projecting their activities deeper into the community, even using Housing and Development Board (HDB) common spaces and parks within private estates, he added.
The community health posts are also a “very significant” initiative. Teams made up of community care personnel, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals are deployed about once a week to provide continual care for patients who are discharged, said the Health Minister.
Mr Ong added that the Ministry of National Development and the Ministry of Transport will also continue to develop and improve the physical environment and make it more conducive for seniors.
“Instead of spreading all these initiatives thinly around the island, we feel it is more effective and will make a bigger impact if we combine them, consolidate them, harmonise them, integrate them and then implement them in a consolidated way in communities with a high density of seniors,” he said.
“If we can do so, we transform that community into an Age Well Neighbourhood. That is really the plan.”
Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat announced on Sunday that about 200 community care apartments will be launched in Toa Payoh next year.
Noting that Toa Payoh is one of Singapore’s oldest towns, Mr Chee said: “These are senior-friendly HDB flats thoughtfully designed with community spaces where our seniors can socialise and exercise.”
They will also be supported by on-site staff who can attend to their care needs around the clock.
LONG-TERM STRATEGY
The eventual plan is to roll out the Age Well Neighbourhoods scheme islandwide, said Mr Ong on Sunday, adding that the scheme is part of Singapore’s long-term strategy for ageing.
“Whatever we announce for Toa Payoh and whatever we may announce later this year, these are pilot projects. The intention is to learn from them, and after learning from them, we can implement them better, and then we’ll look for other places,” said the Health Minister.
When asked about the criteria for Age Well Neighbourhoods, Mr Ong said the density of seniors and the number of them who need the services would be considered.
“I think we have to start off with the neighbourhoods that have a higher concentration of seniors,” he added.
For example, Sembawang has many more young families. In such neighbourhoods, the government will continue to roll out active ageing centres, community health posts and home personal care services, but they will not be consolidated “in a major way” to turn it into an Age Well Neighbourhood, he said.
The Ministry of Health has always focused on preventative care and population health, noted Mr Ong.
“We are now very determined to shift the centre of gravity of care away from hospitals and clinics into the community with residential areas.”
