Came across an article today which serves as a good primer for the church to start thinking proactively and to anticipate opportunities (areas of God's working in Singapore) that come with an aging population.

The church can certainly make use of the opportunity (indicated in bold below) to outreach, make a difference and impact lives.

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27 May 2009

The Straits Times
Forum

Missing: Social software for the elderly

The 'hardware' required to meet the needs of a boom in elderly population, outlined by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan in last Thursday's report ('S'pore gears up for silver tsunami'), is staggering in cost and manpower and will burden future generations.

In just five years, for instance, Singapore needs to have 2,000 more nursing home beds, train a large number of health-care personnel and set up complex financial schemes to cope with the expenses.

Are there other strategies which we can adopt to minimise the impact?
Perhaps, we still have time to look deeper into the development of the social software needed to alleviate the oncoming shock waves.

For example, Health Ministry estimates put the number of elderly people suffering from dementia to rise from the current 20,000 to 45,000 by 2020.

In my interaction with retirees, I found that their common problem is the lack of a sense of purpose in life. There is nothing they can look forward to in their daily lives. Such emptiness and hopelessness can cause depression and eventually, dementia.

Keeping retirees socially connected and providing them with mental challenges is necessary to maintain their overall health; and this is where social software schemes, which mobilise mass involvement, or social enterprises can make use of their skills and experiences.

All these can keep them mentally alert and physically healthy.

Many social schemes and enterprises require creative design and innovative organisation and may not necessarily involve substantial costs.

On the other hand, they can contribute much social benefits and to national well-being.

President S R Nathan's Address to Parliament stressed the need for new strategies to cope with the new economic environment, and an ageing population is a challenge facing us.

We must mobilise every able person to work together to create a new social structure in which the elderly can live in dignity and self-respect.

Jackson Chia Sze Soon President Active Retirees' Association