Community care apartments part of wider housing and care options for seniors, ageing in place remains key: Tan Kiat How

Singapore is projected to become a "super aged" society this year, as more than one in five here is expected to be 65 years old or older.

And by 2030, Singapore will have a million seniors aged 65 and above.

To this, the Ministry of Health's (MOH) approach is to provide seniors a range of housing and care options with different services, price points, subsidised and commercial products, said Senior Minister of State for Health Tan Kiat How in Parliament on Wednesday (Sept 9).

Tan, who is also Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information, was responding to MPs Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang SMC), Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar GRC), and Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang SMC), who had filed parliamentary questions related to demand and pricing related to community care apartments (CCAs).

"The most sustainable solution is for seniors to age in place, which is also their preference," the senior minister of state said in his reply.

He highlighted that aged care services have been brought closer to where seniors live by expanding the active ageing centre network , while enhanced home personal care has been offered.

Tan also stated that MOH is stepping up services under the Age Well Neighbourhood initiative at locations with higher density of seniors.

Other options, such as stay-in shared caregiving services, CCAs, as well as privately-provided assisted living options such as the facility at Parry Avenue, will continue to be provided as part of the range of options, he said.

Perennial Living's private assisted living home along Parry Avenue , operated by Perennial Holdings, determine their pricing and services based on commercial considerations and serve a niche segment of the population, the senior minister of state noted.

Turning to CCAs, Tan said that the Government provides eligible seniors with housing grants and offer market discounts.

This is intend to keep them affordable for seniors, he added.

Tan noted that with the provision of more options to age well in the community, demand for CCAs has moderated.

Meanwhile, the same level of subsidies was extended to CCA residents following the rollout of subsidised services such as active ageing centres and enhanced home personal care.

"That is a key reason why we have lowered the CCA basic service package fees .

"In particular, subsidies for care services by CCA staff are similar to existing subsidised aged care services, hence similar eligibility criteria apply, including requiring activities of daily living support, to ensure subsidies are targeted at those with care needs."

CCA take-up rate at 7 in 10 units

Asked by MP Yip Hon Weng if factors such as location, mandatory services and eligibility rules may have contributed to lower demand, Tan pointed out that CCA is still considered a "fairly new product" in Singapore.

He shared that take-up rate was about seven in 10 units across the five projects completed or announced.

"I'm sure attributes related to housing, like location, proximity to amenities, price points, perhaps familiarity with the environment all play a part. So this is hard to attribute to any one factor," the senior minister of state explained.

He reiterated that CCAs are part of the broader range of assisted living facilities and long-term care support for seniors.

On whether Medisave can be used by seniors to pay for service fees, Tan emphasised that (one of) the policy objective of Medisave is to ensure that seniors have adequate savings to afford the basic medical support required as they grow older.

However, Tan said that this will be looked at as part of overall affordability considerations.

"We'll continue to learn from this experience. And going beyond the CCA, we want to bring these services to different neighbourhoods around Singapore to better serve our seniors," he added.

预计新加坡今年将成为一个“超老龄化”社会，因为这里超过五分之一的人口预计将达到或超过 65 岁。

到 2030 年，新加坡将有 100 万 65 岁及以上的老年人。

对此，卫生部高级政务部长陈杰豪周三（9月9日）在国会表示，卫生部的做法是为老年人提供一系列住房和护理选择，包括不同的服务、价格点、补贴产品和商业产品。

兼任数码发展及新闻部高级政务部长的陈先生，是在回应议员叶汉荣（义顺单选区）、万黎扎医生（惹兰勿刹集选区）和梁荣华（武吉班让单选区）提出的有关社区护理公寓（CCA）需求和定价的国会质询时做出上述表态的。

“最可持续的解决方案是让老年人居家养老，这也是他们的意愿，”国务高级部长在答复中表示。

他强调，通过扩大积极老龄化中心网络，养老服务已经更贴近老年人的居住地，同时还提供了更完善的家庭个人护理服务。

谭还表示，卫生部正在老年人密度较高的地区加强“乐龄邻里计划”的服务。

他还表示，其他选择，例如居家共享照护服务、社区照护助理 (CCA) 以及私人提供的辅助生活选择（例如 Parry Avenue 的设施），将继续作为一系列选择的一部分提供。

国务部长指出，Perennial Holdings 运营的 Perennial Living 位于 Parry Avenue 的私人辅助生活之家，根据商业因素决定其定价和服务，并服务于特定人群。

谈到社区活动津贴，谭先生表示，政府会向符合条件的老年人提供住房补助金和市场折扣。

他补充说，这样做是为了让老年人能够负担得起这些产品。

Tan指出，随着社区中养老选择的增多，对社区活动的需求有所缓和。

与此同时，随着积极老龄化中心和加强居家个人护理等补贴服务的推出，CCA 居民也获得了同等水平的补贴。

“这就是我们降低 CCA 基本服务套餐费用的关键原因。”

“特别是，CCA员工提供的护理服务补贴与现有的老年护理服务补贴类似，因此适用类似的资格标准，包括要求提供日常生活活动支持，以确保补贴能够用于有护理需求的人。”

CCA 接受率为 7/10

当议员叶汉荣询问地点、强制性服务和资格规则等因素是否可能导致需求下降时，陈指出，CCA 在新加坡仍然被认为是一种“相当新的产品”。

他表示，在已完成或已宣布的五个项目中，认购率约为十分之七。

“我相信与住房相关的各种因素，例如地理位置、周边配套设施、价格水平，以及对周围环境的熟悉程度，都起到了一定的作用。因此，很难将此归因于任何单一因素，”这位高级国务部长解释道。

他重申，CCA 是更广泛的辅助生活设施和老年人长期护理支持的一部分。

关于老年人是否可以使用保健储蓄支付服务费用，陈先生强调，保健储蓄的政策目标之一是确保老年人有足够的储蓄来支付他们年老时所需的基本医疗支持。

然而，谭表示，这将作为整体可负担性考量的一部分进行考虑。

“我们将继续从这次经验中学习。除了社区活动中心（CCA）之外，我们还希望将这些服务推广到新加坡各地不同的社区，以便更好地服务我们的老年人，”他补充道。