Meaningful activities keep the elderly mentally, socially, physically and emotionally fit

The vision of NTUC ElderCare Co-operative Limited is of a physically, socially and mentally healthy ageing Singapore population. With the support, care and love of their families and the community, they can lead independent and fulfilling lives. NTUC ElderCare's mission is to be an agency within the National Trades Union Congress family that looks into elderly matters on a comprehensive basis in line with its concern of ensuring the wellbeing of our senior citizens now and in the future.

An objective of NTUC ElderCare is to provide affordable, quality and value-added care services, including the elderly who have completed their hospital rehabilitation programmes but need to continue with therapy maintenance programmes. It achieves this by operating social day care centres which allow them to socialise and engage in activities that keep them physically, socially and mentally healthy. Soon after NTUC ElderCare Co-operative Limited was registered in 1997, it embarked on the setting up of centres at Marsiling and Taman Jurong, which commenced operations in January 1999 and March 2002 respectively.

Another objective is to inform and involve the public on the care and support of an ageing population, how it affects us and what we can do to stay in good mental and physical shape. NTUC ElderCare does its bit with free public health talks and workshops for the public, residents in various constituencies and union members. The first series of workshops were conducted in English and Mandarin in 2001. Discussed were topics such as "Falls Prevention In Elderly", "Healthy Lifestyles - Common Illnesses, Diet and Exercises" and "Basic Knowledge and Skills for Caregivers".

To provide convenience and value-added programmes to neigbourhood residents, a medical escort service and physiotherapy assessment and treatment were made available to residents of Sembawang GRC in April 2001 and April 2002. Other NTUC ElderCare programmes include:

Neighbourhood Link

• Providing communal services for the residents of Bedok Studio Apartment Block, namely Block 509B Bedok North Street 3.
• Collaborating with Thye Hwa Kuan Moral Society and Singapore Chee Hoon Kog Moral Promotion Society in managing the Neighbourhood Link.

Elderly Suicide Prevention Programme (2000)

An inter-agency workgroup comprising SAGE Counselling Centre, Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS), National Council of Social Service (NCSS), hospitals and other Voluntary Welfare Organisations (VWOs) developed a training manual and guidebook on the intervention skills to prevent suicide among elderly.

Elderly Abuse Prevention Programme (2002)

Another inter-agency workgroup project initiated by SAGE Counselling Centre with the Singapore Police Force, NCSS, hospitals, Law Society of Singapore and other VWOs, this programme aimed at creating awareness among the public on elderly abuse cases and reducing the number of elderly abuse cases by providing help and developing intervention skills to prevent them from occurring.

In 1999, NTUC ElderCare set up the ElderCare Trust Fund to administer funds to build and maintain the daily management and operations of the day care centres. This Trust Fund was registered under the Charities Act in June 2000 and allowed to issue tax-exempt receipts for donations from corporate and individual donors under the National Council of Social Service's Central (General) Fund in November 2000. The cooperative has also become an affiliate of NCSS, with full-member status, since November 2001.

NTUC ElderCare's short-term plan is to set up two more day care centres by 2006. It will also continue to introduce new services or programmes and activities at the day care centres and involve itself in other community projects. There will be ongoing efforts to create greater awareness and publicity for the cooperative and its day care services.

Further down the road, the cooperative hopes to provide residential facilities such as nursing homes and retirement housing for the elderly.