Ageing in Place: Access to Active Ageing Centres in Singapore

• In Event: Student Forum Roundtables Session
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 11: Aging, Care, and the Life Course

Abstract

Singapore is becoming a rapidly ageing society. By 2030, one in four Singaporeans would be considered an older adult, making Singapore a super-aged nation. As a result, Singapore introduced the concept of aging in place (AIP) to support older adults in aging well in their homes and communities. Singapore’s Ministry of Health thus introduced the Age Well Neighborhood initiatives, which aim to develop more Active Ageing Centres (AACs) within neighborhoods to support older adults in being physically and socially active in their communities. Currently, there are 223 AAC in Singapore that are accessible to 60 to 80 per cent of community-dwelling Singaporean older adults. There is a significant underuse of AACs in Singapore, where only 10 per cent of the older adult population participated in AAC activities.

This study aims to investigate the access and involvement of Active Ageing Centres (AACs) by Singaporean older adults over the age of 60 living in Housing Development Board (HDB). Using a cross-sectional ethnographic design, this study employs sketches of the neighborhoods Eunos Crescent and Jalan Damai Estate, as well as interviews with Singaporean older adults (N=10-14). Transcribed interviews are quantitatively and qualitatively analysed using STATA and NVivo 15, respectively, to determine the factors that support or create barriers to access and involvement in AACs that include frailty, pain, physical limitations, social networks, and neighborhood features.

Authors

• Ying Xin Yong, University at Buffalo

• Misty L Harris, University at Buffalo