New 180-bed residential home to be built in Sembawang Walk by 2016
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 2 Feb 2013
A $13-MILLION residential home for adults with intellectual disabilities will be built by March 2016 in Sembawang Walk.
By Janice Tai, The Straits Times, 2 Feb 2013
A $13-MILLION residential home for adults with intellectual disabilities will be built by March 2016 in Sembawang Walk.
The 180-bed home is part of the Government's plans to meet demand for residential care, which is expected to grow.
The 5,400 sq m home will be built on an empty plot next to the Sunshine Welfare Action Mission Home and near a condominium.
The new facility, to be run by Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, will help ease the bed crunch at the seven existing government-funded homes for the disabled.
Most of these homes, which can take in a total of about 830 residents, are over 90 per cent full. The waiting time for a place can stretch to months.
More disabled adults are expected to require greater support because their caregivers may be too frail to continue looking after them as the population ages, said the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) in response to queries from The Straits Times.
Those with disabilities are also expected to outlive their caregivers due to longer life expectancy, it added.
About 2 to 3 per cent of the population - or about 97,200 people - are disabled. Half of them are above 40 years old.
Advances in medical care mean that they now live longer despite their disabilities, said operators of existing homes.
"In the past, they used to live till an average age of about 30 to 40. But now we are seeing moreof them living right through their 50s and 60s," said Ms Koh Gee May, director of residential, training and development services at the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS).
And most residents live in these homes for decades, so there is little room to take in new residents. About a quarter of the residents in the homes here are above 55 years old.
Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, which currently operates a home in Chai Chee Lane, said that its 102 places have been taken up. Five people are on its waiting list.
And most residents live in these homes for decades, so there is little room to take in new residents. About a quarter of the residents in the homes here are above 55 years old.
Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, which currently operates a home in Chai Chee Lane, said that its 102 places have been taken up. Five people are on its waiting list.
When taking in residents, the homes consider factors such as the availability of family support. Most residents are on a government subsidy.
The wait to be admitted takes on an added urgency because the caregivers - usually parents - are ageing and need help themselves, said Mr Dennis Lim, who heads the Bishan Home for the Intellectually Disabled.
About 40 per cent of its 127 residents have parents or caregivers who are aged above 60.
As families get smaller and the pace of living becomes more hectic, more disabled people are also turning to institutionalised care, said home operators.
"Their one or two siblings have their own families and commitments. In the past, there were more hands to pitch in from big extended families," said Madam Fauziah Jabil, head of the Red Cross Home for the Disabled.
The need to build more homes for the disabled was one of the issues highlighted last year by a government-appointed committee tasked with drawing up a blueprint for disability services.
Operators interviewed by The Straits Times suggested that these homes should be spread out islandwide.
The new homes should also be equipped with more elderly-friendly facilities to cater to the ageing residents.
But they pointed out that institutionalised care for mentally disabled people should be the last resort.
Said Mr Lim: "They should not be spending a large portion of their lives in the homes, as nothing beats family love."
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