Such arrangements are growing in popularity as people realise that “seniors and the young do have things that they can learn from each other and can support each other with”, says a researcher.
Tang See Kiat
25 Sep 2024
SINGAPORE: By 2026, Singapore is set to attain “super-aged” status which is defined as a country having at least 21 per cent of its population aged 65 and above.
By 2030, that ratio will go up to one in four citizens.
To prepare for a rapidly ageing society, the government has said it will continue to expand housing options for seniors – and a new model appears to be under experimentation.
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) in June launched its first tender for “concepts that support silver co-living proposals” at a state property.
The agency said it has observed ongoing demand for co-living spaces. Over the past two years, SLA launched a total of seven state property tenders for co-living use, and attracted more than 70 bids.
“As Singapore’s population matures, industry operators have shared their interest to provide more accommodation options to support independent seniors,” it told CNA.
Hence the tender for 98 Henderson Road – formerly the location of Henderson Primary School – through which SLA hopes to encourage “intergenerational co-living concepts with senior-living accommodation options”.
“This aims to support seniors who may consider co-living facilities on short-term leases which differ from assisted living or community care apartments, as it offers an independent living alternative for seniors who do not require medical care or mobility assistance,” the authority said.
HOW TO MAKE IT WORK FOR SENIORS?
Experts that CNA spoke to welcomed the latest effort to develop new eldercare residential options, amid ever-rising demand.
Current options include Kampung Admiralty, Singapore’s first “retirement kampung” which features public housing for seniors with healthcare and wellness facilities in the same compound.
A second “kampung” at Yew Tee is set to be completed by 2027.
Singapore also has community care apartments that integrate senior-friendly housing design with on-site care and social services.
Unlike Kampung Admiralty, residents at these assisted living apartments must subscribe to a service package that includes the help of a community manager who can arrange basic health checks and 24-hour emergency response.
The keys to the first of such flats, located in Bukit Batok, will be handed over to residents later in 2024.
In the private sector, a handful of assisted living facilities exist, such as the St Bernadette Lifestyle Village where eight to 10 seniors have their own rooms in a private landed house and are provided round-the-clock care and other services.
But more can be done to meet the varied needs of current and future seniors.
“Whether it’s ageing in place, assisted living or even senior co-living, they are all good options to have in Singapore because we will need different housing options to meet different needs (that are) based on age, family conditions or individual preferences,” said Ms Chia Hui Xiang, a researcher from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Senior co-living models are not unheard of abroad, the experts pointed out.
And very often, those that are successful have “more than just great infrastructure”, said Dr Kelvin Tan, head of the minor in applied ageing studies programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS).
“It’s more about building up a community and having the right programmes to achieve that.”
For example Aoi Care, a senior co-living facility south of Tokyo, allows seniors who are more independent to plan their own activities, giving them “a sense of agency”.
It’s also located in the middle of a residential district, with a cafe acting as a “connecting point” for residents from the facility as well as the wider neighbourhood.
At this cafe and other shared spaces within the neighbourhood, people of all ages can interact and partake in joint activities, said Dr Tan. This lets the younger generation learn how to interact with seniors, while also allowing the latter group to feel included.
Agreeing, Ms Janice Chia, founder and managing director of social enterprise Ageing Asia, said livable communities for seniors in other countries typically focus more on ensuring that the “senior community is not an enclosed environment”.
The NUS researcher, Ms Chia, made the point that programmes for seniors can also involve activities that showcase their skills and lived experiences.
“Instead of teaching them to do art or cook, why can’t we let our seniors teach us their homemade recipes?
“In Singapore, I think we tend to think of seniors as beneficiaries who need support. We should shift to a mindset where seniors have something to contribute and are respected members of the community,” she added.
“This will help our seniors to age with dignity.”
CONNECTING ACROSS GENERATIONS
In the case of the 98 Henderson Road tender, the site is located right next to the former Henderson Secondary School – a state property that’s been transformed into a space housing a childcare centre, nursing home, dialysis centre and urban farm.
This presents collaboration opportunities between the new co-living facility and the existing community, such as regular visits from young students from the childcare centre or even part-time jobs at the urban farm, said Ms Chia from Ageing Asia.
“At the end of the day, it’s about how a senior who lives there can have more access to a more engaging, healthier lifestyle with more social interactions.”
NUS’ Ms Chia noted an increasing trend towards intergenerational co-housing.
“People are realising that seniors and the young do have things that they can learn from each other and can support each other with,” she said. “It also makes for a much livelier environment.
For instance, Taipei’s Yang-Ming Senior Apartments rents out rooms to both seniors and university students. Students pay lower rent, as part of a move to encourage them to organise activities and interact with their senior neighbours, she said.
In Singapore, an assisted living facility with an intergenerational twist has been operating out of a two-storey shophouse along Joo Chiat Road for more than a year now.
The Joo Chiat Social Club, as it’s called, is currently home to eight seniors aged 67 to 92.
Tuesdays are a highlight for the seniors, who can look forward to the company of volunteers and their children or toddlers from a nearby childcare, as they participate in activities ranging from arts and crafts to cooking. Volunteers also organise ad hoc activities, such as a movie night on a recent Friday.
It’s at these activities where “organic” interactions between the seniors and the young take place, said co-founder Mariel Chee.
“We think intergenerational interaction is important in fostering greater understanding across generations.
“It benefits both sides. We notice how seniors always want to help out to care for the children and they seem to light up when the kids are around,” said Ms Chee, whose own two-and-a-half-year-old daughter is also at the shophouse often.
“My child now knows that she cannot hit them because it will hurt them. She also remembers to walk slower when holding their hands.”
CREATIVE SOLUTIONS NEEDED
Some however cautioned that care services should not be completely left out of any senior housing model.
“The idea of assisted living is to assist the seniors to remain independent in the community but being a medical practitioner, I prefer to err on the side of caution,” said Dr Belinda Wee, who runs St Bernadette Lifestyle Village and founded the Assisted Living Facilities Association.
“There must be care for these seniors – not in an intrusive manner, but when they need it, it is available … It is very important to realise this and not go away with a romanticised idea of senior living.”
Other experts agreed that given its novelty, co-living might appeal to only a small group of seniors at the start, or foreigners more familiar with the concept.
Even then, they said it was necessary to experiment with different approaches.
“It’s good that we are piloting new models,” said Ms Chia from Ageing Asia. “I see this as a positive step in the direction of even more models of ageing emerging, be it by the private sector or in collaboration with the not-for-profit or public sectors.”
Given the high cost of land in Singapore, converting old and disused state properties is one way to encourage the trialling of new ideas.
Yet the fairly short leases for such properties could serve up some challenges, the experts noted.
“Bidders will have to be pretty creative on how to retrofit the space, run the space and at the same time, make money. This is always a struggle,” said SUSS’ Dr Tan.
“And when a private firm sees a short-term lease, they will want to be very careful with the kind of investment they want to put in. It’s only business sense for them to be thinking about returns.”
The 98 Henderson Road plot will be offered for lease for an initial term of four years, with an additional tenancy term of three years, based on information found on SLA’s website.
SLA is expected to award the tender, which received six bids when it closed in early August, in the last quarter of 2024.
And moving forward, the authority “will continue to proactively engage the industry and explore suitable opportunities in the silver co-living space”.
Source: CNA
