LONG TERM CARE IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that the population in Singapore is ageing rapidly. It is also of no surprise that the likelihood of hospitalisation increases directly with age. The combination of these two facts tells us that the proportion of elderly patients requiring hospitalisation would only accelerate over time. The problem does not stop with the higher number of elderly patients in the hospital. Older patients are also more likely to remain in hospital longer than the younger patients. The increasing number of long staying patients poses a big problem to hospital administrators and hospital medical social workers. The lack of family support, fragmented community-based support services and the shortage of nursing homes for rehabilitation and recuperation purposes further aggravate the problem of long staying old patients. These contributing factors are often considered as separate entities but a deeper analysis would see that these factors are basically part of long term care (LTC). The scope of LTC is very wide; it includes both medical and nonmedical care provided under various setting such as the individual's home, in the community or in an institution. LTC services can be provided by unskilled primary caregivers or skilled professionals. Though these LTC services are known to us in one way or another but the term - LTC, remains relatively unfamiliar to most Singaporeans. This thesis unde1iook an extensive task in looking at the issue of LTC in the broadest way possible. It studies the availability, accessibility and affordability of LTC in Singapore. A causal visit to a nursing home last year kindled interest on the part of the author to examine the issue of LTC. An empirical survey was conducted to find out more about the nursing homes in Singapore. The later section of this thesis discusses the financing of LTC. Policy recommendation is made to extend the 3Ms to include a component for LTC. On the other hand, private sector can provide LTC insurance, which is another feasible method of financing LTC.