New St Theresa’s Home to encourage seniors’ independence
St Theresa's Home at Upper Thomson Road. Photo: St Theresa's Home Singapore/Facebook
SINGAPORE — The Catholic Welfare Services (CWS) plans to redevelop St Theresa’s Home into a modernised, larger and more lively elder-care facility to be called St Theresa’s Village, at a new site to be completed by the end of 2020.
It will provide a more conducive environment for community building among its residents and with visitors, as “a place to celebrate life in old age”.
The CWS also aims to be the first voluntary welfare organisation (VWO) to integrate an assisted-living model into its nursing home and is now in discussions with the Ministry of Health (MOH) about the funding arrangement. The idea is to tackle the issue of over-serviced elderly residents in their homes, who make up about 10 per cent of residents, and provide a more fitting place for these seniors.
This group might require less intensive care than what is typically given at a nursing home, so that “their independence can be prolonged”, said CWS vice-chairman Michael Sim, who is heading the St Theresa’s Village project.
There, residents who “still can do a lot of things for themselves” can expect to feed themselves, make their beds and clean up their own area, although they might require some help in the toilet, for example.
“So in a way, we’re replicating the concept of home,” Mr Sim said. “What they’ll normally do at home, you can also encourage them to do in a facility.”
Speaking on the sidelines of CWS’ charity walkathon on Sunday (April 30), Senior Minister of State (Health) Amy Khor said the MOH is in discussions with the VWO about how a collaboration in funding the facility might be possible.
This also comes as the ministry continues to ramp up the nation’s nursing home capacity from 12,800 places last year to 17,000 by 2020.
The St Joseph’s Home, which is also run by CWS, has helped boost the numbers by almost tripling its beds to 412, including 72 for those suffering from dementia, from 139 after a S$61 million, two-year redevelopment work was completed two months ago. The Government funded about 80 per cent of the cost.
Without disclosing how much St Theresa’s Village may cost or where it could be relocated to, as negotiations are ongoing, the CWS said it is looking to double the capacity from 200 to at least 400 with the redevelopment.
Some 150 of the new spaces will feature the assisted-living slant, so residents’ beds would be spaced out more widely, and they would share an “apartment-sized” space with three other elderly residents. Rooms for elderly couples are also proposed.
At the same, the eldercare sector “comprises not just nursing homes”, Dr Khor said. The ministry will “as much as possible want to avoid institutionalising seniors”, as many of them have expressed a wish to “age in place at home”.
“That’s why we’re expanding into home care and community care (embedding aged care services within the community and make it accessible to seniors who may be living in their own home), so they can age in place for as long as possible,” she added.
In a bid to find the sweet spot between nursing home and assisted-living models, CWS chairman Thomas Tan said his team will be “working very hard to avoid making (eldercare) institutional”.
“We want them to move in and, hopefully, build a new community that’s centred around purposeful living because the important thing about elder health is not just dealing with physical discomforts but the psychosocial aspect of it,” he said.
