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Singapore Highlights Families As Key Support For Seniors, Persons With Disabilities

Source: Government of Singapore
Posted on: 5th November 2009

Minister Vivian said that we should find ways to help families cope with care-giving responsibilities. We need to enable and empower both the seniors and their caregivers.

This involves expanding choices and options in care services and delivery so that families and seniors can better plan and manage care needs.

Speech by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, at launch of the Centre for Enabled Living “Enabling Week 2009″, 05 November 2009
Mr Chua Chin Kiat

Chairman of Centre for Enabled Living (or CEL)

Ms Lee Kwai Sem

Chief Executive of CEL

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning.

Introduction

The theme of the inaugural Enabling Week 2009 is “Continuum of Care in the Community: Building Capabilities, Fostering Empowerment”. It aptly describes the approach that the Centre for Enabled Living (or CEL) will take, alongside our partners to add value to the eldercare, disability and social service sectors.

An Ageing Singapore

In 20 years’ time, one in five Singapore residents would be above the age of 65.  The baby boomer generation is starting to enter their golden years.  Our life expectancy at 65 is increasing. In 1965, a 65-year-old could expect to live for another 8.3 years. Today, at 65, we can all expect to live for another 19.2 years.  We need to plan ahead and be prepared for the opportunities and challenges that longevity brings.

The key question we should all ask is: “How would you like to lead your life when you are older?” Do you want to remain active, healthy and ambulant?  I am sure most of us would prefer to continue living independently in our own homes as we grow old. Inevitably, some of us might require some care and support. And if so, most of us would prefer to be supported by our loved ones at home. Others might require a higher level of care in the nursing homes. These are decisions that the seniors and family caregivers would have to make. As a government, as a community and as service providers in the sector, our task is to ensure that appropriate choices and services are available for our seniors and their families.

Caregiving in the Family

It is imperative that the family remains the key pillar of support in caring for our seniors and persons with disability. In the National Survey of Senior Citizens in 2005, about 90% of our seniors aged 55 and above turned to their families when they were ill, need financial assistance or when they need someone to talk to. This must continue to be so.

However, we recognize that the family is under pressure. Not only are we having smaller households, more seniors are also living apart from their children. Some have no family members. The Government and social service agencies can never replace the love, care and the emotional support of a family member. But we should certainly find ways to help our families cope with caregiving responsibilities. We need to enable and empower both our seniors and their caregivers.

Empowerment and Enablement

Empowerment can be manifested in several ways. But at a practical level for families and seniors, empowerment means expanding choices and options in care services and delivery so that families and seniors can better plan and manage care needs.

With the set-up of the Centre for Enabled Living, we are pursuing three key thrusts to better empower persons needing care and their families.

Enhanced Access to Care Services

First, CEL will enhance access to care services. Many frail elderly and persons with disability have multiple needs. Families have to approach different agencies and providers to manage the care needs of their loved ones. CEL is set up as a first-stop centre for persons who need care and families who need caregiving support.  Together with the Agency for Integrated Care, CEL will develop a seamless care delivery and referral pathway – from acute hospitals to community hospitals to community- and home-based services. This will enable families to access medical, nursing, personal care and social support services holistically.

Building Capacity and Capability

Second, CEL will develop the capability of the elder and disability care sector. With MCYS’ $1m funding support, CEL has launched the Sustainable Enhancements for Eldercare and Disability Services (SEED) Fund. This provides seed funding for worthy proposals that enhance the care and caregiving landscape, including those that can harness technology to improve the effectiveness and cost efficiency of services.

One such promising proposal has already come in and CEL is actively considering it. The proposal is from Touch Community Services. It is a tracking system using RFID technology. Under this project, every household receiving care from Touch will be tagged using an RFID. Each time a service is delivered by staff/volunteer, he will use his RFID reader to read the tag. This will enable the system to capture the time the staff/volunteer visits the elderly, and will help ensure optimum deployment of staff and volunteers which the current manual system cannot do.

The staff/volunteer will also bring with him a pack of “incident” tags – each tag to represent an incident such as the elderly has had a fall, or requested for medical care or has not had his food delivered as schedule. The incident tags would be read by his RFID reader. The information recorded by the RFID would be automatically sent to HQ once the RFID readers are collected at the end of every day. Currently, such information are collected manually. It becomes both expensive and slow to be able to track the progress of clients and their changing care needs. With the RFID system in place, there will be potential time savings from 1 month to 1 day but most importantly, the needs of the client is well monitored.

This project will potentially benefit at least 400 home help and home care clients in its pilot phase.

Caregiver Support and Training Programmes

Third, CEL will be developing more caregiver support and training programmes. Caregivers need to be supported so that they in turn can provide adequate care to their loved ones at home. We recognize that caregiving responsibilities can be emotionally challenging. We need to empower families and informal caregivers with practical caregiving skills to care for seniors and persons with disability at home. Caregivers will also benefit from learning how to manage one’s own wellbeing.

CEL is looking into skills training for informal caregivers including foreign domestic workers. Two potential service providers are NTUC Eldercare and Touch Community Services. Both service providers expect to roll out their services early next year. Each of them targets to train 500 caregivers annually.  Caregivers can apply for subsidies under the Caregiver Training Grant administered by CEL

A More Inclusive Singapore

Empowerment of seniors and persons with disability goes far beyond care services and CEL. It relates to our vision to build an inclusive Singapore. Over the years, there has been significant progress in this respect. One example is the promotion of barrier-free accessibility. We need to continue to dismantle the remaining physical, regulatory, cultural and mental barriers, which might impede our seniors and persons with disability. We should all be able to actively participate in the workforce and the community. With improved accessibility, we can all access and enjoy public social amenities and leisure opportunities. As good neighbours, we can help to keep an eye out for and support one another, so that we could all be cared for in our homes. Let us work towards a more gracious and inclusive Singapore.

Conclusion

The point that I am trying to make is that underlying all our discussions, there needs to be a values-based approach.  And the value is that every human life is worthy and everyone, regardless of ability or disability, has to be supported in order to fulfil his or her potential, and in order to live a full and happy life.  I hope that we do not lose sight of these values, even though we have to respond to the social changes that will continue to occur.  If we can do that, I think we can all make meaningful contributions towards enhancing the wellbeing of our seniors and persons with disability.  On this note, I want to wish the CEL and its partners every success in doing a great job in the years ahead.

Thank you.

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