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Active ageing centre operators plan to double pool of workers, offer more services for seniors

Some centres have urged volunteers, including seniors, to step forward.

Active ageing centre operators plan to double pool of workers, offer more services for seniors

Some active ageing centres are planning to double their labour pool and offer more services amid the rising number of seniors in Singapore.

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SINGAPORE: Some active ageing centres are planning to double their labour pool and offer more services amid the rising number of seniors in Singapore.
 
However, recruitment remains a challenge in the aged care sector, according to centre operators. 
 
Some centres have urged volunteers, especially seniors, to step forward to help them. 

MEETING THE GROWING NEEDS OF SENIORS

At Active Global Home and Community Care, for instance, new programmes are introduced to cater to the growing needs of seniors, besides the usual activities such as line dancing and board games. 
 
“With the launch of Healthier SG, two additional services called the social connector to engage people socially and in the community, and the community screener, have been added to this suite of services that we offer,” said Active Global Home and Community Care’s community outreach manager Lakshmi KS, referring to the national initiative encouraging Singaporeans to take steps towards better health and quality of life. 
 
These efforts by active ageing centres are heeding a call by the government to draw seniors out of their homes.
 
However, challenges remain in finding enough people to support operations.
 
Active Global Home and Community Care has put out recruitment calls for full-time staff since last year, but not many have come forward.
 
“Manpower has been a huge challenge for the community care organisations all the time. But this challenge is something that we have to learn to find creative ways to battle with,” said Ms Lakshmi. 
 
“Apart from our full-time team, we do depend largely on our volunteers. This pool of volunteers, recruiting them and retaining them is a challenge for us.”

At Active Global Home and Community Care, for instance, new programmes are introduced to cater to the growing needs of seniors, besides the usual activities such as line dancing and board games.

EXPANDING SUITE OF ACTIVITIES

St Luke's ElderCare is also facing a similar situation. 
 
The organisation currently serves more than 5,000 seniors across 12 centres in Singapore, a figure that it expects will quadruple by the end of the year. 
 
On average, each centre needs around five full-time staff and about a dozen volunteers to manage day-to-day operations. This includes carrying out activities such as exercises, ukulele sessions and organising outings for the seniors.
 
“We realise that we need to continually expand our suite of (activities) to cater to a larger pool of active agers, and we have introduced a number of new initiatives, which includes hobbies-related activities such as photography for enthusiasts, and fun and adventurous activities such as obstacle courses,” said St. Luke's ElderCare senior manager Bernard Wan. 
 
“We would like all active agers to be able to participate holistically in a wide range of activities, not just in a certain activity.”

TAPPING SENIOR VOLUNTEERS

Instead of focusing solely on younger volunteers, St Luke's ElderCare is looking towards other seniors to step up to support their peers. 
 
“We are looking to recruit more volunteers from the community. One area which we believe is still relatively untapped is senior volunteerism,” said Mr Wan. 
 
“(Active ageing seniors) can still continue to contribute to society, and we believe that volunteering is one meaningful way to do so. If 10 per cent of our active ageing seniors in each of our (centres) can volunteer, we will have around 100 to 400 senior volunteers per (active ageing centre)."
 
To achieve that goal, the organisation is working with community partners in the area to engage more seniors to step forth. 
 
“We expect that the expanded suite of activities will be able to attract more seniors, more individuals to join us,” said Mr Wan. 
 
“The important thing is to ensure that they are well engaged, and they are active so that they can continue to age in place in the community.”

Source: CNA/ca(fk)
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