AGEING-IN-PLACE: GAPS IN SINGAPORE’S SENIOR CARE PROVISIONS

Abstract

Singapore advocates for its citizens to age-in-place, to address the ever-growing ageing population. However, little local research has been done in examining the availability and accessibility of care and daily amenities for elderly, which are important to seniors’ agein-place experience, using a geospatial approach. This paper investigates whether availability and accessibility gaps exist in senior care provisions within elderly populated HDB neighbourhood. The study employed two main approaches, spatial and network analysis. The relationship of the spatial distribution of elderly population and senior care provisions in Singapore was first established using a correlation analysis. A spatial analysis was then done using the Kernel Density and Raster Calculator tool to justify any spatial mismatch between the HDB flats and care amenities. Next, a network analysis using 10 and 15-minutes walking isochrones was done to ascertain whether these amenities were accessible for seniors. A positive correlation exists between elderly population distribution and that of senior care provisions. However, further analysis showed that albeit having rather good provision of amenities for areas with higher concentration of elderly, areas with lower concentration of elderly still lack these senior care provisions. The same was observed for accessibility to senior care provisions, accessibility was only satisfied for subzones with a greater percentage of elderly. In conclusion, HDB neighbourhoods with high concentration of elderly are relatively wellequipped with the necessary amenities for elderly to age-in-place. It recommends that the government take a more holistic approach in ensuring age-in-place-friendly neighbourhoods for areas with lower elderly concentration too.