# Age Well SG to Support Our Seniors to Age Actively and Independently in the Community - **Source:** Ministry of National Development - **Published:** 2023-11-16T10:00:00.000Z - **Author:** Ministry of National Development - **Original:** https://www.mnd.gov.sg/newsroom/press-releases/view/age-well-sg-to-support-our-seniors-to-age-actively-and-independently-in-the-community - **Topics:** Government & Policy ## Featured rationale Expanded assisted-living supply and estate upgrades may increase ageing-in-place options, potentially shaping senior demand toward accessible homes in familiar neighbourhoods. ## AI summary Age Well SG will enhance senior-friendly housing and estates, while planning up to 30 Community Care Apartments by 2030 if the care model proves scalable. ## Original article Age Well SG is a national programme to support seniors to age well in their homes and their communities. Led by the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of National Development (MND) and Ministry of Transport (MOT), it aims to support our seniors to age actively, stay socially connected, and be cared for within their communities. A long-term programme that will be progressively implemented, Age Well SG will see a comprehensive nationwide transformation across the areas of housing, transport, active ageing and care services to anchor ageing in the community. ENCOURAGING ACTIVE AGEING Active Ageing Centres MOH will dedicate around $800 million from FY2024 to FY2028 to better resource Active Ageing Centres (AACs) to connect to a significantly larger pool of seniors, so as to achieve our vision of seniors ageing well in their homes and communities. We will improve the operating model of AACs to bring about these added benefits: a) Greater accessibility and convenience to seniors. • AACs will leverage Silver Generation Ambassadors to strengthen their community outreach, to get to know the seniors in the community, focusing especially on those at risk of social isolation. AACs will also tap on common spaces, including coffeeshops, parks, pavilions and residents’ corners, to engage and deliver services to seniors. • For example, AACs can tap on common spaces in the community, such as those under the People’s Association’s Residents’ Networks to engage and deliver programmes to seniors closer to their homes. b) Improved quality and range of programmes for seniors across five key domains of social, physical health, cognitive, learning and volunteerism. • These include befriending services, group physical activities and other active ageing programmes, and social support for vulnerable seniors. These evidence-informed programmes cater to all seniors, with different programmes designed for different needs. • For example, Move It Feel Strong by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) for seniors who are robust, square stepping by Sport Singapore (SportSG) to enhance cognition and prevent falls for frailer seniors, as well as digital literacy courses for all seniors to upskill. • Beyond these programmes that AACs may choose to plug and play, AACs also have the flexibility to customise programmes to meet the needs and preferences of seniors in the neighbourhood. c) Strengthened collaboration with community partners and healthcare clusters. • It is very important that AACs do not work alone. They need to leverage existing networks and volunteers that are already present in the community, to bring activities and social programmes nearer to seniors. • On health related services, AACs need to work closely with healthcare clusters, to implement health screening services in the community, and integrate with Healthier SG. To support these efforts, MOH will expand our network of AACs from 154 today to 220 island-wide by 2025 to make them accessible to every senior. With this expansion, eight in 10 seniors will have access to AAC activities in the vicinity of their homes. Senior Volunteerism To encourage our seniors to stay meaningfully engaged through active volunteerism, we will roll out a “Silver Generation Volunteer” programme to train and deploy senior volunteers to the AACs. The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) will provide training to equip seniors with the necessary skills, before matching senior volunteers to diverse volunteering opportunities at the AACs. Seniors can organise and run active ageing programmes for other seniors, such as preparing meals for communal dining for fellow seniors, and befriending or buddying seniors who are at risk of social isolation. We aim to double the number of senior volunteers trained by AIC to around 4,000 senior volunteers by 2025. Interested seniors can approach AIC to find out more about available volunteering opportunities, or visit AIC’s website (https://for.sg/aac-volunteer-application) to indicate their interest. STRENGTHENING SUPPORT FOR SENIORS WITH CARE NEEDS Shared Stay-in Senior Care Services Sandbox We will support private sector innovation to widen the range of care solutions for seniors to age in the community. In September this year, MOH and AIC, with support from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), launched applications for a sandbox to explore the viability of new stay-in shared caregiving models for seniors. This will mitigate the impact on family caregiving that shrinking family sizes have brought about and offer more options for seniors, especially those living alone, to age in the community with care support. We have identified five companies to be onboarded onto the sandbox, and they aim to serve an estimated 800 senior clients. Participating companies will be supported through foreign manpower concessions to mitigate manpower challenges. Seamless Delivery of Care Today, seniors with multiple care needs may have to interact with multiple care providers and undergo repeated assessments from each provider. For example, they may need to interact with a day care centre as well as a home care provider. We will help seniors and their caregivers have a more seamless care journey by having a single point of contact to meet their multiple care needs from various providers. The point of contact will perform the role of a single bundled service provider, coordinating care across service providers for the seniors. It will use a standardised care assessment tool, to plan and address the senior’s care needs. This reduces the need for multiple assessments and unnecessary referrals by different care providers. These efforts to improve coordination in the sector will take place progressively from the second half of 2024, and in consultation with stakeholders. Enhancing Support for Caregiving Training To make it as easy as possible for every Singaporean family to have a trained caregiver, the government will enhance the Caregivers’ Training Grant (CTG). From 2024, caregivers can tap on up to $400 in CTG subsidies per year, double that of $200 today. We will also allow caregivers to tap on their SkillsFuture Credit to pay for eligible caregiver courses, to further reduce the cost of training. With these, we intend to scale up the number of subsidised training places for caregivers, to 4,400 each year across 200 courses. AIC and SkillsFuture Singapore will add more places if needed to ensure that the needs of caregivers are met. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT Over the years, MND has been making our homes and estates more seniorfriendly through upgrading programmes such as the Enhancement for Active Seniors (EASE) programme, the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme (NRP) and the Estate Upgrading Programme (EUP). We will now be making a bigger, more concerted push to address seniors’ needs in the built environment through tighter collaboration and coordination among agencies, such as Housing & Development Board (HDB), Building and Construction Authority (BCA), AIC, National Parks Board (NParks) and Land Transport Authority (LTA). This will involve closer partnership with residents and the community to carry out new upgrading works to make it easier and safer for seniors to engage in their daily activities. Enhancing Homes and Communities to Make Them More Senior-friendly Within HDB flats: We are expanding the EASE programme, into EASE 2.0, which will offer a wider range of senior-friendly features. These include rocker switches, home fire alarm devices, handrails at multi-step flat entrances, foldable shower seats and widened toilet entrances for wheelchair users. These new features were decided on in consultation with MOH, AIC, and healthcare professionals like occupational therapists. We have also taken in public feedback from surveys and learning outcomes from inhome trials. To better support low-income and vulnerable seniors who often lack family support, we will progressively expand the provision of the wireless Alert Alarm System (AAS) to all seniors aged 60 and above staying in public rental housing. With the wireless AAS, eligible seniors can easily call for help during emergencies by pressing the alert buttons conveniently placed in their homes. Upon activation of the alert button, seniors can record a short voice message which will be transmitted to CareLine, a 24/7 hotline that responds to callers in distress, or nearby AACs. The expansion is expected to benefit around 26,800 more seniors living in around 170 rental blocks. At the HDB precincts and private residential estates: HDB will progressively roll out senior-centric upgrading works to over 20 older precincts with a higher density of seniors in Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Merah, Queenstown and Toa Payoh. These works will: a) Make it safer and easier for seniors to move around their neighbourhoods. • These include enhancements such as barrier-free access ramps and rest points along routes frequented by seniors. • To make wayfinding easier and safer for seniors with dementia, larger and more colourful signages with symbols may be introduced to help seniors navigate their neighbourhood independently. b) Enhance seniors’ health and wellness by facilitating physical and social activities in the community. • More amenities that support health, such as fitness trails and therapeutic gardens, may be installed to encourage seniors to engage in outdoor activities to stay active. Such amenities also promote social interaction and intergenerational bonding, enabling seniors to expand their social networks. For instance, in Queenstown’s Mei Ling precinct, seniors can look forward to an Active Health Fitness Trail, which will feature an exercise path that links up various fitness corners within the precinct, that helps seniors to improve muscle strength, balance and mobility. The suite of enhancements will be tailored for each precinct based on residents’ feedback. Seniors will be engaged through community improvement walks to better understand their needs and seek their views on the senior-friendly amenities that they hope to see in their HDB precinct. HDB has formed an inter-agency committee involving AIC, LTA and NParks to coordinate the improvement works and ensure residents’ needs are met holistically. These upgrading initiatives will complement Healthier SG to support seniors in leading an active lifestyle and will be gradually implemented over the next 5 years. These works will potentially benefit more than 21,000 households. Similar upgrading works will be carried out at selected older private residential estates, under the EUP. Additionally, we will identify and select estates with a higher concentration of seniors, including those that have benefited from EUP some time ago, for senior-friendly enhancements. Ramping up the Supply of Community Care Apartments To provide more assisted living options for seniors to age in place, MND, MOH and HDB will ramp up the supply of Community Care Apartments (CCAs). This is a public housing typology that pairs senior-friendly housing with on-site social activities and care services that can be customised according to the senior’s care needs. Seniors living in CCAs can also enjoy convenient access to various amenities. • Given the positive response to the first two CCA projects, Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok and Queensway Canopy, we will launch up to 30 CCAs by 2030, if the model of care provision proves to be effective and scalable. We will do so in different locations across Singapore, so that more seniors can have the option to spend their golden years in neighbourhoods that they are familiar with. • Seniors can look forward to the third CCA project at Bedok, which will be launched in the upcoming December 2023 Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise. • We will continue to refine the CCA model, especially after the first residents move in to Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok next year. Friendly Streets To further enhance safety and convenience for residents, especially seniors, to move around their neighbourhoods, MOT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) target to expand the Friendly Streets initiative to all towns by 2030. The Friendly Streets initiative was launched during MOT’s Committee of Supply this year to create more inclusive and pedestrian-friendly neighbourhoods. All five pilot sites1 are near key amenities such as markets, hawker centres, community clubs, and schools, and see high pedestrian flows. Friendly Streets will include features such as barrier-free crossings, more frequent and longer Green Man activations, and traffic calming measures to slow vehicles down. Each pilot is spearheaded by a taskforce, made up of the local Advisers, representatives from relevant government agencies, the Town Council and grassroots leaders. LTA has been working closely with the respective taskforces on the features and traffic measures to be implemented in each pilot site. We have also engaged residents and community stakeholders to share preliminary plans, and seek feedback on these plans for each location. The community welcomed the Friendly Streets in their neighbourhoods. LTA will take in the feedback received before starting construction on the pilot locations progressively from end 2023. Building on this momentum, we are expanding the Friendly Streets initiative to cover more towns so that it would benefit more residents including seniors in the years ahead. We will take into account learning points from the pilot locations, and continue to work closely with the local communities to implement Friendly Streets in other towns. 27. The full details of Age Well SG are available on www.agewellsg.gov.sg. Together with the efforts of the community and the family, we will make Singapore a home where seniors can age well in their homes and communities, while remaining connected to their loved ones. MINISTRY OF HEALTH MINISTRY OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT 16 NOVEMBER 2023 1 The sites are located in Ang Mo Kio, Bukit Batok West, Tampines, Toa Payoh, and West Coast. ## Chinese translation > Translation model: grok_cli ### Age Well SG 支援长者在社区积极、独立地乐龄生活 Age Well SG 是一项全国性计划，旨在支援长者在家中及社区安享乐龄。由卫生部（MOH）、国家发展部（MND）和交通部（MOT）牵头，目标是协助长者积极乐龄、保持社交连结，并在所属社区获得照护。 作为一项将分阶段逐步推行的长期计划，Age Well SG 将在住房、交通、积极乐龄及照护服务等领域推动全国性、全方位的转型，使乐龄生活扎根于社区。 鼓励积极乐龄 积极乐龄中心 卫生部将在2024财年至2028财年拨出约8亿新元，加强积极乐龄中心（Active Ageing Centres，AACs）的资源，以连结更大规模的长者群体，从而实现长者在家中及社区安享乐龄的愿景。 我们将完善 AACs 的运作模式，以带来以下额外效益： a）让长者更容易、更便捷地获得服务。 • AACs 将借助乐龄一代大使（Silver Generation Ambassadors）加强社区外展，认识社区中的长者，尤其聚焦有社交孤立风险的长者。AACs 也将利用咖啡店、公园、凉亭和居民角等共用空间，与长者接触并提供服务。 • 例如，AACs 可利用社区内的共用空间，例如人民协会居民网络（People’s Association’s Residents’ Networks）下的空间，更靠近长者家门开展和提供活动。 b）提升长者在社交、身体健康、认知、学习与志愿服务五个关键领域的活动质素与种类。 • 这些包括结伴探访服务、团体体能活动及其他积极乐龄项目，以及对脆弱长者的社会支援。这些以实证为基础的项目照顾所有长者，并针对不同需要设计不同项目。 • 例如，健康促进局（HPB）的 Move It Feel Strong 适合体质健壮的长者；新加坡体育理事会（SportSG）的方格步法（square stepping）有助增强认知并预防较脆弱长者跌倒；以及面向所有长者的数码素养课程以提升技能。 • 除了这些 AACs 可选择直接采用的项目外，AACs 也有弹性按邻里长者的需要与偏好定制项目。 c）加强与社区伙伴及医疗集群的协作。 • AACs 不能单打独斗，这一点非常重要。它们需要借助社区中已有的网络与义工，把活动和社交项目带到更靠近长者的地方。 • 在健康相关服务方面，AACs 需要与医疗集群紧密合作，在社区推行健康筛查服务，并与 Healthier SG 整合。 为支援上述工作，卫生部将把 AACs 网络从目前的154间，扩展至2025年全岛220间，让每位长者都能便捷到达。扩展后，每10名长者中将有8人可在住家附近参与 AAC 活动。 长者志愿服务 为鼓励长者通过积极志愿服务持续有意义地参与社会，我们将推出“乐龄一代义工”（Silver Generation Volunteer）计划，培训并派驻长者义工至 AACs。 综合护理管理局（AIC）将提供培训，装备长者所需技能，再将长者义工配对至 AACs 的多元志愿服务机会。长者可为其他长者组织并主持积极乐龄活动，例如为共膳准备膳食，以及结伴探访或陪伴有社交孤立风险的长者。 我们的目标是到2025年，将经 AIC 培训的长者义工人数增至约4,000人，较现有水平翻倍。有兴趣的长者可向 AIC 了解现有志愿服务机会，或访问 AIC 网站（https://for.sg/aac-volunteer-application）登记兴趣。 加强对有照护需要长者的支援 共享住家式长者照护服务试验计划（Sandbox） 我们将支持私营领域创新，拓宽长者在社区乐龄的照护方案。今年9月，卫生部与 AIC 在人力部（MOM）支持下，开放一项试验计划的申请，探索长者共享住家式照护新模式的可行性。这将缓解家庭规模缩小对照护的影响，并为长者——尤其独居长者——在社区中获得照护支援提供更多选择。 我们已物色五家公司加入该试验计划，预计服务约800名长者客户。参与公司将获得外籍人力方面的便利措施，以缓解人力挑战。 无缝照护服务 目前，有多重照护需要的长者可能须与多家照护机构接触，并接受各机构重复评估。例如，他们可能既要与日间护理中心往来，又要与居家照护服务提供者往来。 我们将协助长者及其照护者拥有更顺畅的照护历程，设立单一联络点，统筹多家机构提供的多重照护需要。该联络点将担任捆绑式服务提供者的角色，协调各服务机构为长者提供照护，并使用标准化照护评估工具，规划与满足长者的照护需要。这可减少不同照护机构进行多重评估及不必要转介的需要。 这些改善行业协调的工作将自2024年下半年起分阶段推进，并与持份者协商。 加强对照护培训的支援 为尽可能让每个新加坡家庭都有受训照护者，政府将加强照护者培训津贴（Caregivers’ Training Grant，CTG）。自2024年起，照护者每年可动用最高400新元的 CTG 津贴，是目前200新元的两倍。我们也将允许照护者使用技能创前程信贷（SkillsFuture Credit）支付合资格的照护课程费用，进一步降低培训成本。 藉此，我们计划将每年受津贴的照护者培训名额扩大至4,400个，涵盖200门课程。如有需要，AIC 与 SkillsFuture 新加坡将增加名额，以确保照护者的需要得到满足。 改善生活环境 多年来，国家发展部通过积极乐龄提升计划（Enhancement for Active Seniors，EASE）、邻里更新计划（Neighbourhood Renewal Programme，NRP）和市镇更新计划（Estate Upgrading Programme，EUP）等提升项目，让住家与市镇更乐龄友好。我们现在将更大力、更协调地推动，通过建屋发展局（HDB）、建设局（BCA）、AIC、国家公园局（NParks）和陆路交通管理局（LTA）等机构更紧密的协作与统筹，应对长者在建成环境中的需要。这将包括与居民及社区更密切的伙伴合作，进行新的提升工程，让长者更轻松、更安全地从事日常活动。 提升住家与社区，使之更乐龄友好 在组屋单位内： 我们正将 EASE 计划扩展为 EASE 2.0，提供更广泛的乐龄友好设施。这些包括翘板式开关、家用火警装置、多级单位入口扶手、可折叠淋浴座椅，以及方便轮椅使用者的加宽厕所入口。这些新设施是在咨询卫生部、AIC 以及职能治疗师等医疗专业人员后决定的。我们也吸纳了来自调查的公众反馈，以及家居试验的学习成果。 为更好支援往往缺乏家庭支持的低收入及脆弱长者，我们将逐步把无线警报系统（Alert Alarm System，AAS）的供应范围，扩大至所有居住在公共租赁组屋、年满60岁及以上的长者。有了无线 AAS，合资格长者可在紧急情况下，按下家中便利位置的警报按钮轻松求助。启动警报按钮后，长者可录制简短语音信息，传送至 CareLine——一条全天候应对求助者的热线——或附近的 AACs。预计这项扩展将惠及约170座租赁组屋大楼中约26,800名更多长者。 在组屋邻里及私人住宅区： 建屋发展局将在宏茂桥、红山、女皇镇和大巴窑等长者密度较高的超过20个较旧邻里，逐步推出以长者为中心的提升工程。这些工程将： a）让长者在邻里走动更安全、更方便。 • 包括在长者常走的路线上增设无障碍通道坡道及休息点等改善措施。 • 为让患有认知障碍的长者更容易、更安全地认路，可引入更大、更鲜艳并附有符号的指示牌，协助长者独立在邻里导航。 b）通过便利社区中的体能与社交活动，促进长者健康与福祉。 • 可增设健身径及治疗花园等支持健康的设施，鼓励长者参与户外活动以保持活跃。此类设施也促进社交互动与跨代连结，让长者扩大社交网络。例如，在女皇镇美玲邻里，长者可期待一条积极健康健身径（Active Health Fitness Trail），该径将连接邻里内各健身角的运动路径，协助长者增强肌力、平衡与活动能力。 整套提升措施将根据各邻里居民反馈量身定制。将通过社区改善步行活动与长者接触，更好了解他们的需要，并征求他们对希望在组屋邻里看到的乐龄友好设施的意见。建屋发展局已成立由 AIC、LTA 和 NParks 参与的跨机构委员会，统筹改善工程，全面满足居民需要。这些提升计划将配合 Healthier SG，支援长者过积极的生活方式，并将在未来5年逐步落实。这些工程有望惠及超过21,000个家庭。 类似提升工程也将在选定的较旧私人住宅区，在 EUP 下进行。此外，我们将识别并选定长者较集中的住宅区——包括较早前曾受惠于 EUP 的住宅区——进行乐龄友好改善。 加速供应社区照护公寓 为向长者提供更多辅助生活选择以便在地乐龄，国家发展部、卫生部与建屋发展局将加速供应社区照护公寓（Community Care Apartments，CCAs）。这是一种公共住房类型，把乐龄友好住房与现场社交活动及可按长者照护需要定制的照护服务相结合。居住在 CCAs 的长者也可便捷使用各类设施。 • 鉴于首两个 CCA 项目——武吉巴督和谐村（Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok）与女皇道华盖（Queensway Canopy）——反应积极，若照护模式证明有效且可扩展，我们将在2030年前推出多达30个 CCAs。我们将在新加坡不同地点推行，让更多长者有机会在熟悉的邻里安度晚年。 • 长者可期待第三个 CCA 项目落户勿洛，将在即将于2023年12月举行的预购组屋（BTO）销售中推出。 • 我们将继续完善 CCA 模式，尤其是在首批住户明年迁入武吉巴督和谐村之后。 友善街道 为进一步提升居民——尤其长者——在邻里走动的安全与便利，交通部与陆路交通管理局（LTA）的目标是到2030年将友善街道（Friendly Streets）计划扩展至所有市镇。 友善街道计划在交通部今年的供应委员会辩论期间推出，旨在打造更包容、更利于步行的邻里。全部五个试点地点1均靠近市场、小贩中心、民众俱乐部和学校等关键设施，行人流量高。友善街道将包括无障碍过路设施、更频密且更长的绿灯人通行时间，以及减缓车速的交通宁静措施等元素。 每个试点由工作小组主导，成员包括当地顾问、相关政府机构代表、市镇理事会及基层领袖。LTA 一直与各工作小组紧密合作，落实各试点地点的设施与交通措施。我们也与居民及社区持份者沟通，分享初步计划并征求意见。社区欢迎在其邻里推行友善街道。LTA 将吸纳收到的反馈，再于2023年底起分阶段开始试点地点的施工。 在此势头上，我们正把友善街道计划扩展至更多市镇，以便在未来惠及包括长者在内的更多居民。我们将参考试点地点的经验，并继续与当地社区紧密合作，在其他市镇落实友善街道。 27. Age Well SG 的完整详情载于 www.agewellsg.gov.sg。在社区与家庭的共同努力下，我们将把新加坡打造成长者可在家中及社区安享乐龄、同时与亲人保持连结的家园。 卫生部 国家发展部 交通部 2023年11月16日 1 地点分别在宏茂桥、武吉巴督西、淡滨尼、大巴窑和西海岸。