COORDINATING BEFRIENDERS' OUTREACH TO THE ELDERLY

NOTICE PAPER NO. 433

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 3 FEBRUARY 2026

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Assoc Prof Terence Ho

Nominated MP

Question No. 1252

To ask the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health whether the Ministry can support of the efforts of social service agencies’ senior befrienders by (i) coordinating their outreach to complement that of the Silver Generation ambassadors and (ii) scaling up the deployment of technology in homes to help family members or befrienders monitor the well-being of vulnerable seniors living alone.

Answer

1         Under Age Well SG, the Silver Generation Office (SGO) and various social service agencies work closely together to support vulnerable seniors. SGO’s role is to outreach to all seniors, identify seniors with needs, and connect them to community resources such as befriending and buddying services at Active Ageing Centres. Befrienders from these social service agencies will then maintain regular contact with seniors, with those accepting the befriending service contacted at least monthly.

2         HDB has been progressively extending the wireless Alert Alarm System to seniors staying in public rental blocks, to allow them to call for help during emergencies. MOH is also implementing the enhanced Home Personal Care service islandwide from April 2026 where eligible seniors can subscribe to a technology-enabled fall and incident monitoring and response service.