# data[].attributes.body
Family

Rise in ‘sandwiched’ families

2 or more working adults have to support younger and elderly

Rising medical costs and longer life expectancy causes stress, apprehension and anxiety to set in on families

Elderly seen as a burden, rather than a ‘treasure’ unlike in the past might lead to unhappiness among family members

Hiring of foreign domestic helpers to provide care for elderly who are too frail

Sacrifices (such as lesser personal time and jobs) made by families to take care of elderly → financial and psychological stress

Interventions

Parental care leave mandated for sectors to allow adult children to care for their parents

More resources need to be pumped into building up our community health and social services and programmes.

Community

Ageism

Stigma that they are unsuitable employees

Can lead to neglect by the workplace and the media leads to widespread misconceptions about the lifestyles and usefulness of our elderly citizens

The Government’s stance is that putting in place anti-discriminatory laws could increase business costs and undermine economic competitiveness

Apart from limited provisions protecting older workers or women from being fired because of their age or pregnancy, there is no legislation concerning discrimination in the workplace

Employers also prefer to hire and invest in younger workers believing they are easier to train and hold development programmes for as compared to elderly which is considered more costly as it is tougher for them to acquire new skills

E.g. Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices seems like a mere organization that holds talks and sends awareness to advocate for workplace fairness but it has no legal powers to take effective action to investigate and solve cases

As strains on the family increase, policymakers may need to look beyond the family, and to the community as the main line of defence for the future.Involving the community will mean tapping resources around an area or around networks that grow organically, and harnessing them to improve the lives of seniors.

E.g. social enterprise The Social Iron that matches seniors, with time on their hands, with professionals who need ironing services. Other examples include harnessing elderly volunteers to befriend the vulnerable aged sick

Individual

Loss of Independence

Elderly as less physically able to engage in hobbies or attend appointments alone or even carry out household duties

May have to end up losing freedom as they themselves could become caregivers for those such as spouses whose health might have declined more rapidly

Increased Isolation

This isolation from the outside world feeds depression and suicidal tendencies, aggravates mental conditions, and worsens their physical health.

Social relationships on the other hand directly encourage protective health behavior, and loneliness can alter human physiology

Healthcare workforce

Increase overall healthcare capacity to attend to growing elderly population

Intervention:

30,000 more healthcare workers

6 new polyclinics, 2100 public hospital beds, 9100 community hospital beds and nursing homes, 7600 more places in day, home and palliative care by 2020

Eg. Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, Jurong Community Hospital and Yishun Community Hospital were opened last year.

REFERENCES

https://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/laws-needed-against-workplace-ageism

https://www.seniorhomes.com/p/impacts-of-aging

https://www.fas.nus.edu.sg/swk/doc/Survey%20of%20Social%20Isolation%20Health%20and%20Lifestyles.pdf

https://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/families-under-pressure-in-ageing-society

https://www.gov.sg/news/content/singapore-feeling-impact-of-rapidly-ageing-population

# data[].attributes.body
Hi Frens,
Trends:

Life Expectancy

At Age 65 Years *

(Years)

Life Expectancy At Age 65 Years *(Years) | 8.4 | 14 | 15.7 | 16 | 16.9 | 17.1 | 17.3 | 18 | 18.4 | 18.7 | 18.9 | 19 | 19.3 | 19.6 | 19.8 | 20 | 20.2 | 20.4 | 20.6 | 20.8 | 20.8 | 20.9

- increased life expectancy: by 2030, the number of Singaporeans aged 65 and above is projected to double to 900,000, means 1 in 4 Singaporeans will be in that age group, up from 1 in 8
https://www.population.sg/articles/olde

- increase in awareness of importance of health

https://www.hpb.gov.sg/article/over-135-000-singaporeans-reached-through-healthy-lifestyle-festival-sg-to-adopt-healthy-living-in-everyday-life
- higher women to men ratio at older age groups (From straits times)

consequences of ageing:
1. Deterioration of health

cause of death for seniors is mainly: cardiovascular disease, influenza, pneumonia, alzheimer's, renal failure, septicemia

https://nursing.uc.edu/content/dam/nursing/docs/CFAWD/Aging%20Series/Part%202%20Aging%20Physical%20Changes.pdf

2. Deterioration of functional capabilities(visual impairments, hearing impairments, balance, lost sense of touch, tremor...), increased dependency on family (social)

Making workplaces more age-friendly and enhancing employability of mature workers through schemes such as WorkPro and raising the re-employment age to 67 by 2017.

Ramping up infrastructure, with new hospitals, more institutional care options and a senior-friendly living environment.

Solution: https://www.population.sg/ageing

Living healthier lives – we can all aspire to that. In recent Budgets, we’ve seen senior-centric measures such as the Pioneer Generation Package, the Silver Support Scheme, and the Community Networks for Seniors.

While it’s common to focus on critical illnesses such as cancer, few would think about chronic illnesses that, if not managed correctly, can contribute to a lower quality of life in their old age.

According to the Ministry of Health, common diseases among adults age 18 to 69 include hypertension (23.5% of population), diabetes (11.3%), and high cholesterol (17.4%). These problems, if not tackled early, can lead to more serious health problems for us when we become older.

By ensuring we lead healthier lives when we are young, we will be able to increase our chances of enjoying a quality life in our older days, and at the same time, reduce healthcare expenses.

^https://dollarsandsense.sg/happens-need-claim-diy-direct-purchase-insurance-dpi-policy/

http://www.tablebuilder.singstat.gov.sg/publicfacing/createDataTable.action?refId=14914

MOH 2018 Budget Shifting to the 3 beyonds:
Beyond hospital to community
Beyond quality to value
Beyond Healthcare to health

# data[].attributes.body
As aging population rises, the number of elderly depending on government financial aid continues to rise - due to higher risk in the development of chronic diseases among the elderly (including inpatient hospitalization and specialist visits)

Government’s budget on healthcare doubled from $4 billion in 2010 to about $10 billion in 2017, and this trend is likely to continue.

Elderly healthcare costs are projected to rise tenfold over the next 15 years to more than $66 billion annually (an average of US$37,427 for each elderly person by 2030)

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/elderly-health-costs-to-rise-tenfold-by-2030-report

Working adults with higher incomes will need to pay higher taxes.  Fewer working adults in the family to support each older member = higher cost burden on each adult.

https://dollarsandsense.sg/singapores-ageing-population-financial-implications-country-growing-old/

An ageing population also means that the resident workforce will shrink, tightening the labour market and slowing economic growth further

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-budget-2018-gearing-economy-up-for-greater-emphasis-on-asia-new-tech-ageing

# data[].attributes.body
Psychological Impacts

Biological and Emotional impacts

Society

Loss of direction/ purpose in life

Depression - suicide

Loneliness (104 y.o. professor wants to die https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-104-year-old-australian-professor-who-flew-to-switzerland-to-die-just-had-his-wish-granted-2018-5)

Bigger more prominent disconnect from the youth

Refusal to let go

Less sex (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10695872 )

Healthcare system

New fields in counseling

Euthanasia?