Holiday work - Part 1: Understanding the ‘The Elderly Challenge’

FOUR key recommendations of the report:

• Housing for Seniors : There were be different types of housing to meet the different needs of seniors to get them to live as a part of the family and community.

• Accessibility for Seniors : Improvements should be made to the environment to allow the seniors to move around more easily.

• Caring for Seniors : Healthcare and Eldercare services should be more affordable, more efficient, have a variety services and accessible to seniors living in the community easily.

• Opportunities for Seniors : More activities should be organized to encourage the seniors to be more active in the community, allowing them to make friends.

ONE way that the CAI report is recommending to make our public housing more elderly-friendly :

The CAI report is recommending that the government should consider introducing guidelines for the provision of accessibility and safety features in the homes for seniors, through a review of the Code on Barrier-Free Accessibility, to create a more elderly-friendly environment.

TWO ways on how we can ensure that the quality of elderly care here in Singapore is affordable :

• The government should top up Medisave accounts of less well off Singaporeans where there are budgetary surpluses to ensure that seniors have the means to afford healthcare services.

• MOH should review the ElderShield scheme, to improve the coverage for elderly Singaporeans who require long term care.

THREE things that you can do, as an SST student, to help overcome these elderly challenges :

• I could design some equipment to help the seniors to move more easily around their environment. For example, I could design wheelchairs which allow seniors to move up and down then stairs conveniently so that they could have access to places with stairs.

• I could arrange activities for the senior to make them more active in their social life. For example, I could invite them to our school to share about their experiences so that we can learn from them and they would feel happy that they had contributed to the community in some ways.

• I could treat seniors around me such as my neighbors and grandparents and help them whenever they need help. For example I could help those who are wheelchair-bound to get around.