HOUSING CHOICES FOR THE ELDERLY

Abstract

This report recommends that the current housing options be revised to encourage elderly citizens to age in place as well as to equip the elderly with the skills to independent living. The Singapore government has been actively providing many housing options and initiatives that are catered to the elderly with different needs. However, despite the many initiatives and housing option in place, the majority of the elderly prefers to age-in-place. Aging-in-place is the concept of not having the need to move from current residence in order to secure support services in view of one’s changing needs. Hence, this report suggest that home modifications is a more pragmatic approach to housing problems compared to the need to actively build new housing catered for the elderly. Thus in order to improve the current housing option of the elderly, the current housing options, initiatives and programmes should be reviewed. This includes the need to examine financing instruments available to help the elderly and to explore some of the facilities that could value add to the lives of the elderly. The survey conducted with both the elderly and middle-aged residents reveal that both parties are generally satisfied with their current living environment and will prefer to age-in-place. Since the various research disclose that most elderly would prefer to age-in-place, this report recommends that the current housing be modified to include more elderly friendly features in order to support the growing elderly population in Singapore to age-in-place. Besides that, the report recommends to provide a form of training to enable the elderly to learn to live independently.