Portal to lend a hand in caring for the elderly

SINGAPORE — Despite the fact that everyone will be a caregiver to loved ones or require care themselves at some points in their lives, there is a lack of awareness on caring for the elderly, Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) Chief of Social Care Division Kelvin Lim said.

To address this issue, the AIC will be launching on Sunday its enhanced online portal — Singapore Silver Pages (www.silverpages.sg) — which provides the public with useful eldercare information and resources. The launch will be held in conjunction with a community health festival co-organised by the AIC and South-west Community Development Council.

In an email interview with TODAY, Mr Lim reiterated that a caregiver’s role is vital in caring for the elderly. “Yet some caregivers may lack the knowledge or skills to take care of the elderly. Most of them take on this responsibility alone and quite often when a medical crisis happens, they do not know that there is community support,” he said.

By 2030, the number of Singaporeans who are 65 years and above is estimated to increase almost three-fold to about 960,000.

Last year, the AIC conducted an informal study and found that most people did not find it necessary to think of caregiving until required to step up to the role.

“The reason was that they are more concerned with the present,” said Mr Lim. “However this will result in less preparation ... as a caregiving situation often arises suddenly.”

He added that caregiving is “still considered a taboo subject among Singaporeans”. “But we have to realise that quite often, caregiving starts when an elderly family member ... develops chronic illnesses or medical conditions. Because of such ‘sudden’ situations, one should seek knowledge and information on how to manage and care for the recipients early.”

The Singapore Silver Pages website was launched in February 2011 as a “one-stop portal to empower and engage Singaporeans to make informed eldercare choices”.

The initiative was inspired by the one-stop resource portals where caregivers in Australia can find out about services and community programmes available to them.

Mr Lim said the AIC is working to enhance its portal further and develop mobile apps to help caregivers gauge their physical, mental and overall health condition and then seek help, if necessary. He noted that, in the United Kingdom, there are numerous such online tools.

The AIC has also published resources such as basic caregiving guides and information on caregiver support services and schemes available. These are distributed via community touch points including restructured hospitals and community clubs.