CLC Webinar Series - Ageing Well in Post-Pandemic Cities - 25 February 2021 Ms Charlene Chang Group Director (Ageing Planning Office) Ministry of ...
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CLC Webinar Series - Ageing
Well in Post-Pandemic Cities
25 February 2021
Ms Charlene Chang
Group Director (Ageing Planning Office)
Ministry of Health, Singapore
Ageing is Singapore’s Key Demographic Challenge. By
2030, we will have >900,000 seniors aged 65 and above.
Shrinking Changing Growing
Workforce. Family Structures. Care Needs.
Old Age Support Ratio 83,000 seniors 1 in 3 seniors may have
1:8 (2000) → 1:3 (2030) will live alone. ≥3 chronic conditions.
But we are also leading longer and healthier lives.
Important to reframe our ageing narrative, from
“Silver Tsunami” to “turning silver into gold”.
Sources: Department of Statistics (2015);
Action Plan for Successful Ageing, MOH (2016);
The SIGNS Study, Duke-NUS CARE (2019)
2
In 2015, the Ministerial Committee on Ageing launched the Action Plan for
Successful Ageing as Singapore’s holistic national blueprint for ageing.
• $3B Action Plan was structured at 3 levels and comprised
70 initiatives, and was launched following a year-long
public consultation with all segments of society
• The Action Plan as a living document to be continuously
refreshed to meet the needs of current and future seniors
At the Individual Level: At the Community
At the National Level:
Level:
Opportunities for All
A City for All Ages
Ages Kampong for All Ages
• Health & Wellness • Aged Care Services
• Social Inclusion • Senior Friendly
• Learning
• Protection for Housing, Transport
Opportunities
Vulnerable Elderly and Parks
• Volunteerism
• Workplace Longevity • Research into
Ageing
3
Opportunities for All Ages, as Longevity is Opportunity
National Silver Academy: National Seniors’
subsidized courses for seniors to Volunteerism
learn for interest and stay active National Seniors’ Health Movement: created
Programme: healthy lifestyle volunteer opportunities
campaigns and activities in the in areas such as
community as well as targeted befriending
interventions for mature workers
at workplaces
Project Silver
Screen:
subsidised
functional
screening for
seniors
Kampong for All Ages: building a cohesive home with inter-generational harmony
Dementia-Friendly
Befriending services for lonely
Community Networks for Communities:
seniors: layered on top of regular
Seniors (CNS): a nationwide communities equipped
preventive community support system for to support and respond
health and our seniors bringing together to persons with
active ageing volunteers, community partners
dementia
programmes and service providers
Aged Care
Services: a range
of aged care
options to cater
to seniors with
different care
needs
City for All Ages: for our seniors to live well and age confidently in place
National Innovation Senior-friendly transport:
Challenge: research grants safer traffic junctions,
to find new ways to solve sheltered link-ways, barrier-
Senior-friendly housing: existing challenges free access on public transport
new assisted living
options, and upgrading of
infrastructure within
Senior-friendly towns:
homes in the community
improvements to town
infrastructure, more senior-
friendly amenities and parks
COVID-19 presents a new operating environment which we
will need to make the most of.
Interactions shifting online and fewer in-person gatherings during the “Circuit
Breaker” period have resulted in feelings of social isolation, further adding to
stress from the economic outlook.
7
Encouraging examples of ground-up, co-created solutions for seniors have also
highlighted the potential for community and private leaders to partner the
Government.
The Silver Generation Office
partnered volunteers to distribute
food to isolated seniors, be a
listening ear, run simple errands
or refer them to relevant support
services.
As part of the Seniors Go Digital
Corporate and community
movement, volunteers are guiding
partners donated digital devices
seniors to pick up digital skills. MCI
and Personal Protective
has also partnered
Equipment to eldercare centres to
telecommunications providers to
protect our seniors and help them
provide subsidized mobile plans for
stay in touch with their families.
lower-income seniors.
We can leverage this momentum to strengthen the Whole-of-Society effort
for the refreshed Action Plan.
8
We are strengthening capabilities in the community care sector to
improve service delivery...
COVID-19 has underscored the importance of service transformation
in the eldercare sector.
Capability We are also
improvements will leveraging
allow our service technology such as
providers to improve
their resilience and
tele-befriending or
efficiency, and raise tele-check-ins, to
care standards across ensure that services
the board are provided safely
9
…as well as reach out to all seniors nationwide.
Baseline services will also be rolled out at all eldercare centres support active ageing,
pre-empt social isolation, and refer seniors to appropriate care and support from 2021
Mobilise community
Additional services
resources
Care and Support e.g.
• Silver Generation
• Day care
Ambassadors Active Ageing
• Community
• Community Befriending/
rehabilitation
centres Buddying • Case management
Info & Referral
Community Social
Nursing Primary Care Agencies
Services (GPs / Polyclinics) CareLine Aged care
services 10
(tele-care service)Concerted push to provide job and traineeship opportunities, with
additional support for senior workers.
• Public sector speeding up hiring plans,
Job creating about 10,000 jobs to fill both
opportunities long-term and short-term roles
• Additional wage
support for
employers that hire
local mature/senior • Grants to encourage
workers through Hiring Employment firms to commit to
traineeships incentives flexibility part-time
employment
arrangements for
senior workers
• Scale up of training
• Job attachments and
programmes and
enterprise-based training Traineeships Training increased training
for mid-careerists 11
allowancesPandemic and beyond, we will continue to ensure our
seniors remain resilient and supported.
Senior citizens aged 70 and
above will start receiving
their COVID-19 vaccinations
ahead of other segments of
the population
Further incentives and grants
TraceTogether physical contact to encourage digitalisation for
tracing tokens for seniors who seniors e.g. financial support
may not be comfortable with for lower-income seniors to
digital devices own a smartphone
126 years on, the Ministerial Committee for Ageing is
refreshing the Action Plan.
We must ensure our plans also cater to future …and leverage the opportunities that
seniors, who are different from seniors today… COVID has opened to transform the senior
landscape for care and engagement…
…to empower
seniors and
redefine ageing
Seniors who pursue diverse as a positive More seniors appreciating
activities and interests force. the utility of digital platforms
More educated, exposed Slack labour market providing
and tech-savvy seniors space to retrain and re-skill
seniors for future jobs
13The Refresh will be co-created through partnerships with
citizens and other stakeholders in a Whole-of-Society effort.
We have commenced engagements with Singaporeans from all walks of life to seek their
views and co-develop initiatives within the refreshed Action Plan for Successful Ageing.
These engagements are also concurrently part of the SGTogether movement, a national
partnership effort to encourage Singaporeans to work with one another and with the
Government to build our future Singapore.
One example is the Emerging Stronger Conversations that MOH conducted in Oct 2020.
Participants discussed how Singaporeans can come together to better support our
seniors in the new normal.
We will also continue to conduct surveys and polls to monitor how seniors are coping
with COVID-19, to better refine policy interventions.Thank you
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