Speech by Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State for Health, at the Official Opening of COMNET@182 Rivervale Crescent, 7 July 2018

Mr Charles Chong, Member of Parliament for Punggol East, and Advisor to Punggol East grassroots organisation

Associate Professor Ang Seng Bin, Chairman of AMKFSC Community Services Ltd 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

Good morning. 

    Thank you for inviting me to officiate the opening of three facilities by COMNET Senior Services under AMKFSC Community Services Limited (AMKFSC). These are the Senior Activity Centre (Cluster Support) for Northeast, Senior Activity Centre at 182 Rivervale Crescent, and the Senior Group Home at Rivervale Crescent. 

2    I would like to congratulate AMKFSC on your 40th anniversary this year. From a one-stop social service centre in 1978 with only six staff, the organisation has grown to about 230 staff members today, serving more than 9,800 individuals in over 30 programmes and services each year

STRENGTHENING SOCIAL-HEALTH INTEGRATION

3    Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly. By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be 65 years or older, compared to one in seven today. The concurrent trend of smaller families and rising singlehood will also mean less caregiving support within the family and increased fiscal and care burden on the young. To prepare for rapid population ageing, it is critical that we build a community care system that integrates health and social support in a sustainable and scalable fashion. 

4    Our vision is to have a population of healthy seniors, ageing happily and purposefully in their homes and community.  To achieve this, health and social needs must be addressed together.  They are closely intertwined and cannot be addressed in isolation. The recent transfer of aged care functions from the Ministry of Social and Family Development to the Ministry of Health (MOH) presents new opportunities for collaborations to better integrate care across social and health domains.

5    A key initiative to achieve better social-health integration is the Community Networks for Seniors (CNS). CNS adopts a proactive approach to enable seniors to age in place, by promoting active ageing among well seniors, befriending seniors who live alone or are at risk of social isolation, and sewing up social and healthcare support for frail seniors. The key idea behind CNS is to coordinate and synergise the efforts of different community and government stakeholders to engage more seniors and keep them well for as long as possible.

PARTNERSHIP WITH AMKFSC

6    For well seniors, our aim is to keep them active and healthy for as long as possible. CNS aims to set up active ageing hubs in every precinct within mature towns at Residents’ Committee (RC) centres, Senior Activity Centres (SACs) and Community Centres (CCs) to bring preventive health services, health education, exercise and social programmes to seniors on an ongoing basis. We want to draw seniors out of their flats and nudge them towards a habit of exercising and interacting with others in their neighbourhood.

7    For seniors who live alone or are at-risk of social isolation, our aim is to get them a friend. CNS seeks to match every senior who lives alone with a friend in the community for support. MOH has trained Silver Generation Ambassadors to identify seniors who live alone. MOH then works with VWOs such as COMNET to match volunteers and befrienders to keep an eye on these seniors. To further support seniors who live alone, MOH has also piloted a one-stop call centre “Care Line” in the Eastern region to provide round-the-clock tele-befriending support services.

8    For frail seniors, we want to provide them with holistic help quickly. CNS seeks to coordinate care for highly vulnerable seniors by sewing up health and social support services across agencies such as Social Service Offices, Family Service Centres and our regional healthcare systems.

9    AMKFSC has been a core partner to CNS in reaching out to seniors in the community. Not only does AMKFSC provide active ageing programmes such as daily morning exercises and interest groups at its Senior Activity Centres, it also provides support for older adults at risk of mental health conditions through the Community Resource, Engagement and Support Teams, or CREST for short. AMKFSC also provides befriending services through weekly home visits and case management services for seniors with complex needs.  

10    One beneficiary who has managed to age in place as a result of AMKFSC’s assistance is 76-year-old Madam Rose. Madam Rose is wheelchair-bound and stays alone. She used to fear venturing out of her flat as she would lose her way when travelling to places beyond her neighbourhood. Today, Madam Rose attends outings with the help of COMNET’s staff and befrienders. Thanks to the befrienders who visit her regularly and take her to the weekly structured activities, she now has a wider social circle, and is actively participating in enriching and engaging activities.

CONCLUSION

11    Ageing in place requires all of us to work together in concerted effort. With the transformation of healthcare delivery to make community the centre of gravity of care, community partners play a critical role. Dedicated providers like AMKFSC make a big difference in the lives of our seniors as they deliver the crucial last mile of service within the community. With their comprehensive suite of services for seniors, I am glad to see that COMNET is able to bring them all together to provide integrated and holistic support to help our seniors to actively age within their own communities. 

12    I would like to thank AMKFSC for the good work you do for our community. Together, we can build an even more vibrant and well-supported community, where all Singaporeans can age in place with confidence and purpose.