SINGAPORE - Seniors who require Assistive Devices or subsidies for specialised transport and consumables can now tap on the enhanced Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF) and have their applications approved at a much shorter time. Launched in 2011, the Government’s S$50 million injection into the fund - as announced in Budget 2013 - has widened the scope of coverage for seniors who need support to remain mobile and to live independently. The expansion now includes subsidies for consumable items like catheters, milk feeds and wound dressings for frail seniors receiving home-based healthcare services or attending a Singapore for Integrated Care for Elderly (SPICE) programme. Wheelchairs, commodes, spectacles and hearing aids can now be subsidised, as well as specialised transport services for wheelchair ambulant seniors to and from their home to the Day Rehabilitation Centre or Dialysis Centre. In addition, seniors attending Dementia Day Care Centres can also apply for the subsidy, regardless of their mobility status. Previously, consumables were not covered under the fund, and only walking sticks, rollators, basic wheelchairs and transport services for seniors receiving active rehabilitation at Day rehabilitation Centres funded by the Ministry of Health qualified for subsidies. More channels for seniors to apply for the fund have also been created which will enable the application process to be shortened. Seniors living in a 3-room HDB flat or smaller as per their NRIC address and receiving devices less that S$500 will automatically qualify for the 90 per cent subsidy. This simplified application process has replaced the previous household-means test. The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), which used to be the only access point to the fund, has now partnered community-based service providers such as restructured hospitals, community hospitals, Day Rehab Centres, Dementia Day Care Centres, Renal Dialysis Centres, AIC’s SPICE centres, Senior Activity Centres and home-based healthcare providers to enable wider accessibility to the fund. There are now 114 access points for SMF islandwide and more will be made available “progressively.”