ALFA director Dr. Belinda Wee wrote a letter on The Straits Times forum recently, entitled: “Managing Frailty Just as Important as Prevention”. She stated that it is alarming to note that frailty will increase significantly by 27 percent among seniors by 2030; and urged stakeholders to consider the needs of seniors who are currently frail, while we take urgent steps to mitigate the risks of all seniors in Singapore. Read the letter in full below.
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It is alarming to note that frailty will increase significantly to 27 per cent among seniors by 2030 (Frailty among seniors set to rise sharply as population ages, March 17). With more than 900,000 seniors above 65 years by then, there will be around 243,000 frail seniors then.
While we take urgent steps to mitigate the risks of all seniors in Singapore, I urge stakeholders to consider the needs of seniors who are currently frail.
The Government’s roll-out of assisted living flats in Bukit Batok, Queenstown and Bedok is laudable, and throws a lifeline to those already struggling with frailty.
The tender for a private assisted living site in Parry Avenue promises more assisted living facilities (ALFs) for seniors.
Assisted living seniors are not independent seniors, and need assistance to remain independent in the community, which will reduce the need for more nursing homes.
The Assisted Living Facilities Association (Alfa) is concerned about services available at upcoming ALFs, both public and private. The range, quality and cost of services, and obtaining buy-in from prospective users to utilise and pay for such services, are important issues to settle now.
Seniors need good nutrition, exercise and social engagement to stave off frailty. We need to ensure that these services and more are provided at ALFs.
Many services at the community care apartments in Bukit Batok are optional, for example, meals, cleaning and laundry. These services cannot be optional in ALFs.
Due to frailty, many seniors lack the energy to cook nutritious meals for themselves. While cleaning and laundry services may not be directly associated with frailty, providing them at ALFs will add to seniors’ quality of life and give them more time to engage in activities to keep themselves healthy.
We have found from a study that while many seniors welcome such services, they are reluctant to pay for them.
Perhaps, we need to provide nutritious meals for all seniors and apportion a larger part of our assets to fund our care needs, that is, renting versus owning our accommodation as we age.
It might be time for a deep dive into seniors’ real care needs, sustainable costs and possible payment methods by all parties concerned.
Belinda Wee (Dr)
Director
Assisted Living Facilities Association
ALFA . Singapore 