Improving Eldercare Services in Singapore
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Question (20 marks).
The Ministry of Health announced on 7 Dec 2020 that there would be a new baseline service at eldercare centers to serve all elders nationwide.
https://www(dot)moh(dot)gov(dot)sg/news-highlights/details/implementation-of-new-baseline-service-at-eldercare-centres-for-all-seniors
By 2023, the elderly service landscape will change, with Active Ageing Centres (AACs) / Active Ageing Care Hubs (AACHs) replacing Senior Activity Centres and Senior Care Centres (mosAIC, 2021).
https://aic-mosaic(dot)sg/2021/06/03/active-ageing-centre-care-hub-aac-aach-singapore-seniors/.
Appraise the Rationale for this change and its Impact on service providers and clients.
(20 marks).
- Rationale (10m), purpose? why is there a change? (e.g Go to point for all seniors, one stop service center, extend to all profiles of seniors, another form of caregiver respite, etc). SAC is currently open only to rental flats and apartments; hence, the need to open for more elders.
- Impact on service providers (5m), up-scaling of manpower capability? Service providers has to depend a lot on foreign manpower due to shortage of local manpower. One of the issues is that there is communication problem between the foreigners and the local elderly. There is also a lack of land, facilities, and other resources for the service providers.
- Impact on clients (5m), reduce physical/social frailty (e.g reduce social isolation). Open up to more elderly in flats and apartments and bring in more individuals. Reduce social boundaries.
You can find the textbook for the course in the uploaded files.
Introduction
According to the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), about 14% of Singapore's population was 65 or older as of 2021 (MSF, 2022). This calls for strategies to address demand in eldercare. To address the challenges, the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced changes in December 2020 that there would be new reforms to see eldercare centres provide an ABC suite of services; the rollout of the Active Ageing Centres (AACs) and Active Ageing Care Hubs (AACHs).
Rationale for Change
Enhancing and converting to AACs and AACHs from SACs and SCCs indicates that the government is aware of the impending explosion in the ageing population. Hence, it takes preventive and mitigating measures to ensure the phenomenon is handled efficiently without burdening the public health system or society (MOH, 2020). Thus, SACs and SCCs had to be improved, following the statistics from the MSF, to introduce the ABC suit of services.
Impact of Change on Service Providers
According to He and Tang (2021), there has been a notable shift in investments in the public health system regarding target projects. On the rise are investments going into eldercare because the population is ageing rapidly. This provides a business opportunity for service providers and adds another dimension of priorities for Singapore's long-term public health system.
Implementing the new layout nationwide will likely increase the workload of service providers at eldercare centres. Since it is a government programme with government agencies bearing most expenses, more older adults or families who could not afford such services will now have access. Tan, Poh, and Lim (2022) noted that an increase in the ageing population would open up more employment opportunities because of the demand in the market to care for the elderly. Service providers must ensure they have the necessary resources and workforce to serve the end users and provide care services to all seniors who visit the centre (MOH, 2020). This is both as a business opportunity and a public heath requirement.
In this view, staffing could be an issue in meeting the demand for eldercare services. MOH (2020) stated that encouraging volunteering will help service providers offset labour costs. Most importantly, however, volunteering can only be impactful if service providers educate and reward those participating. Aside from staffing, service providers will also need to increase physical spaces to cater for seniors, fitting facilities with safety paddings and grab bars, and introduce arrays of technologies, including alert systems and remote surveillance (Subramaniam et al., 2019). Hence, service providers investing in these aspects during the initial stages will be more prepared than the rest.
Impact of Change on Clients
The new service reforms may also have financial implications for service providers at eldercare centres and end user...