SINGAPORE — Suffering from dementia, unwashed for a long time and living in a bedbug-infested flat by himself, an elderly man was referred to the Asian Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA) Dementia Day Care Centre and then hospitalised for other health conditions, including malnutrition.

Refusal of medical treatment and poor personal hygiene are a few signs that an individual is unable to care for himself. It is this group of vulnerable adults — usually the elderly — that the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) is looking to protect.

As part of a move to better protect vulnerable adults from abuse and neglect, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said a new law will be introduced later this year that will go beyond third-party abuse and neglect to include protection for cases of self-neglect.

“In MSF, when we draw up the new legislation for the Vulnerable Adults Act, beyond abuse by third parties, we’re seriously considering how we can include provisions for the protection of vulnerable adults who are unable to take care of themselves and may inflict harm upon themselves or … do damage to their well-being,” said Mr Chan at the National Family Violence Networking Symposium yesterday.

Such cases of self-harm may be intentional or unintentional and will cover individuals who are not necessarily mentally incapacitated, but cannot care for themselves when it comes to food, clothing and seeking medical aid.

The proposed Vulnerable Adults Act, first mooted in October last year, is meant to plug gaps in legislation by giving social workers greater powers of access and to appoint public deputies to act on behalf of vulnerable adults.

Speaking to 500 professionals from various fields, including social services, Mr Chan said there is a need to develop a common language of assessment and set of protocols, as well as decide on the type of intervention that is needed.

Although cases of neglect and self-harm are few, Mr Chan expects such incidents to increase when the elderly population hits 900,000 by 2030. “If we can do all that, I’m sure that in 15 years, even if the cases increase tremendously, we should have built up the capabilities ... to be future-ready,” he said.

Institute of Mental Health senior consultant Dr Alex Su said self-neglect may be a symptom of a mental condition and the treatment usually involves working with other agencies to offer psychological, social and medical help.

But if the individuals are of sound mind and refuse help, centre manager of AWWA’s Dementia Day Care Centre Yu Qing Hui said the new legislation would be useful in giving agencies greater powers of access. “Without this, we cannot intervene without the consent of the client,” she said.