Just saw this article today and together with the rest of the article posted on my blog, the articles pointed out some emerging trends pertaining to our society. We as Christians are part of the society and such trends would in fact affect the church.
I'm thinking aloud on the role of church leadership pertaining to identifying and spotting social trends, and knowing such impacts to church and the lives of the members. Should strategic direction and initiatives be casted proactively so that as a church we could anticipate changes and progress steadily to meet the challenges, or should we always react at the last minute to changes around us?
E.g. Silver tsunami is inevitable and will hit Singapore and the church. What will the impact be to the church? How should the church respond? Are we prepared now? How can we bridge the gap?
2009 is the Year of Preparation. What are we preparing for?
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21/05/09
The Straits Times
S'pore gears up for SILVER TSUNAMI
- 2,000 more nursing home beds in five years
- Eldersave, ElderShield, Elderfund being developed
- Manpower expansion and training in health care
By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
IN THE coming decade, Singapore's health-care system will come under pressure from an ageing population coupled with an increase in mental ailments.
To cope, the Health Ministry will add more than 2,000 nursing home beds over the next five years - with about half devoted to the care of the mentally ill.
In the Health Addendum to the President's Address at the opening of Parliament on Monday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan spoke of the need to prepare for a 'silver tsunami'.
The population here is ageing rapidly. The number of people who are over 65 years old is expected to treble to 900,000 by 2030 - from 300,000 today.
This is the driving force behind the development of a second heart and cancer centre, a new general hospital in Yishun and another in Jurong, and the expansion of the National University Health System's dental centre.
'We will increase our subventions to intermediate and long-term care facilities to help them meet growing patient needs,' said Mr Khaw.
These include community hospitals, nursing homes and hospices. New rates for community hospitals will take effect on July 1, that will see total subsidy go up by 15 per cent.
Work on five new nursing homes will start within two years, including a 300-bed home for patients with psychiatric problems to be ready by 2012.
Dr Tan Weng Mooi, chief operating officer for the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) said such a home is an important part of integrated community care for patients suffering from schizophrenia, mental retardation or bipolar disorder.
She said: 'IMH's philosophy is that those with mental illness should be allowed to stay on their own or with their families for as long as possible.'
But there might come a time when they need full-time care, but because their conditions are stable, do not need to be warded at IMH.
There are now three nursing homes that cater to such patients.
Another two new homes, each with 250 beds, will be designed for people suffering from dementia.
These homes will also take in other elderly patients.
A Ministry of Health spokesman said there are now about 20,000 elderly people in Singapore with dementia.
'This is estimated to increase to about 45,000 by 2020,' she said.
People with dementia suffer from loss of memory to the point where they are no longer able to do simple things like dress themselves or even eat. If diagnosed early, there is medication that could slow the progression of the disease.
Nursing homes for them need to provide lots of cues - such as signs, colour code and even music - to connect particular rooms with certain activities.
The ministry will also be releasing two plots of land for the building of private nursing homes. And it will help two existing homes run by voluntary welfare organisations (VWO) to relocate to new and larger facilities.
To help patients pay for all these services, the ministry will develop the 3Es - Eldersave, ElderShield and Elderfund.
Elderfund, set up as Medifund Silver in 2007, helps the elderly poor pay their hospital bills, while ElderShield is insurance for severe disability.
Eldersave is a new concept to help young people set aside enough of the Central Provident Fund money to provide for their health-care needs when they are old.
With so much in the pipeline, the ministry says it will need to recruit 4,500 people over the next two years, with 2,000 job openings in the next 12 months.
'Manpower expansion must precede infrastructure expansion,' the minister explained.
Manpower training in health care will be given a boost when the third medical school at the National Technological University opens.
Mr Khaw also touched on palliative care or the management of pain, and the need to let the elderly sick die with dignity, a theme he has touched on several times this year. He said: 'We will also build up capabilities on end-of-life care and expand the pool of palliative care specialists.'
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