Catering to elderly in rental flats

Upgrading programmes to cater to elderly in rental flats

Upgrading projects include features such as non-slip tiles and support bars

By Daryl Chin, The Straits Times, 23 Oct 2011

His one-room apartment is bereft of most creature comforts, save for a bed stacked with two thin mattresses and an old television set.

Everything is neatly arranged, from the toothbrush in the toilet to the single pot in the cooking area. Retired technician Lam Chin Lai, 80, lives in a sparsely furnished rental flat in North Bridge Road, meant for the needy with no family support and other housing options. He lives frugally on one or two meals a day.

Nearly half of the 44,000 rental units in Singapore are occupied by someone like Mr Lam - 40 per cent of these flats have at least one person aged 65 and above. It is a figure that has been constant for the past five years, said the Housing Board.

In 1992, elderly households made up just 20 per cent. Rental flats have been in the news recently. Last week, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan said addressing the housing needs of those living in such subsidised flats was one of his top priorities. Such units have also been slowly evolving to cater to the elderly.

Of the various upgrading programmes, the one that has benefited seniors the most is Project LIFE (Lift Improvement and Facilities Enhancement for the elderly), jointly implemented by HDB, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the National Council of Social Service.

Under Project LIFE, one-room rental flats with a relatively high concentration of elderly residents are retrofitted with features such as the Alert Alarm System, support handbars, non-slip tiles in the toilets, and taps with lift-up handles. There are lifts on every floor of the rental blocks, where possible.

A 1993 pilot project in three blocks has now been implemented in 53 blocks of one-room rental flats, benefiting 15,800 households.

One such beneficiary is Madam Lie Wie Kie, 76, who lives in a one-roomer in Pipit Road. She lives on about $200 a month, and said her savings can last for about three more years.

'I'm living each day at a time. Meanwhile, HDB has kept my home in good shape, and even fixed my windows,' she said.

But voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) said despite all the advances in rental flats, catering to old folks is likely to get more challenging as the population ages.

Centre manager Lucy Tan of Peace-Connect, which looks after 2,296 one- and two-room flats, said it is a constant effort to get residents out of their homes.

She said: 'When we grow old, both the body and mind degenerate, so making sure they interact and remain alert is important.'

She cited a recent example of an elderly woman who entered her office five times within an hour, asking the same question.

The centre has developed strong bonds with the elderly residents.

Still, social worker Sally Yeo said she has seen elderly folk who refuse to be treated for their injuries. 'Last week, one of our residents fell down at home. He did not move for half a day and could barely walk after that. Even then, he did not tell us and refused to go to the doctor unless accompanied.'

Ms Susana Concordo Harding, director of social agency International Longevity Centre, said there might be a need for further government subsidies to help elderly residents who have problems paying the monthly rents, even at subsidised rates which range from $26 to $275. 'For those who are still working, their income may not be sufficient to cover their rental and living expenses. For those who are not working any more, whatever savings they have will eventually be depleted,' she said

Recognising this, MCYS will increase its share of funding for senior activity centres run by VWOs, from 50 per cent to 60 per cent starting next year. It recently increased the monthly allowance for needy elderly in one-person households from $360 to $400. The agency said it would monitor the adequacy of the cash grant component of the Public Assistance scheme.

Still, more can be done, said the chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for National Development, Ms Lee Bee Wah.

'The estate should be bright, and there should be good amenities and facilities for the elderly to enjoy their twilight years. Estates with old people should not resemble a deserted town; we can have mobile clinics, mobile libraries to facilitate the elderly,' she said.

EMERGENCY ALARM FOR THE ELDERLY

Two cords - one in the living room and one in the bathroom - are the life-savers for many of the elderly living in rental flats.

Once pulled, a klaxon sounds, notifying nearby residents as well as the staff working at a voluntary welfare organisation stationed in an office at the block.

Information such as which unit and where the emergency is will also be flashed on an electronic display box.

This Alert Alarm System is installed in more than 53 blocks of one-room rental flats as part of the Housing Board's facilities upgrading project that caters to the elderly.

Twice a month, the HDB sends in a contractor to maintain the system and ensure everything works.

For home-bound and immobile tenants, a wireless device, in the form of a pendant or wrist tag, is used instead of the cords.

Recent new features include an intercom installed in the living room, where the elderly can speak directly to a staff member manning the emergency line.

The HDB said it is looking at installing another intercom unit in the bathroom.

But the challenge, social workers say, comes in educating seniors about using them.

Ms Lucy Tan, centre manager for Peace-Connect, said alerts would often be sounded unwittingly. 'Sometimes they tie plastic bags on the cords, and forget what it's for. Eventually, when they put enough things in the plastic bags, we'll be alerted.'

Another problem is that many of the elderly are afraid of using technology, she added.