Task 3 (My not-so elder friendly toiler)

 This is the entrance of the toilet, the box on the right is for the purpose for the elderly of placing their walking stick into it and a toilet-friendly walking stick to be exchanged.

 The towels and the bathing cubicle are generally near to each other for more enhanced mobility when moving around in the toilet

This is the final Bird's Eye View of the toiler.

4th Observation--- 23.06.10

For the past few days when i was in Hong Kong where the aging population is growing as rapidly as us, I realised some very significant social life in them. Even when aged, they still were working as hawkers with smiles on their faces, living every second to the fullest. I am not trying to say you cant see that in Singapore, but it is much more rare here. The elderly there were kind, depending on the ones you meet but in my opinion, they were generally great. But come to think of it, has Singapore achieved that standard of optimism when even Age 70 with a well funded family still coming out on the streets to collect cardboard sheets for her own income? I guess to bring down all the observation this whole entire month, it all depends on the perspective you are looking at. In conclusion, all of the unhappiness and happiness all boils down to the social interaction of the elderly.

3rd week of June--- 16.06.10

16.06 was the day before i departed for Hong Kong. I observed something special today, which was the packing of luggage my grandparents did. They efficient on what they would want to bring but some of the cabinets require them to stretch in to grab it out, which is not a good sign. Seems like carboards play a huge role in this too. Another fact is that their memory is slightly bad and they tend to panic when they think of something they thought of but took a long time to obtain. Although memory is something very hard to fix, the social issue comes in, as younger generation, we have a responsibility to remind them.

2nd Week of June--- 09.06.10

Today was considered a lucky day for me, I visited a couple in my neighborhood to conduct a interview for my project work. Their age were till the extreme, almost 80-90 years old. I saw slight loneliness in them. I can see they are having some troubles socializing, especially when they are the small population of humans in Singapore aged 80-90. The moment we came in, they totally changed. They really loved sharing their stories with us willingly and happily. It really seemed they were younger as so. It seems like the elderly also need a lot of moral support. I also realized that the walking aids width was to big to pass through some places and they need the assistance of holding the wall. Walking aids can be installed in homes of elderly like how the install them in a hospital for weak patients to hold on so just to make sure they remain their balance.

1st Week of June--- 04.06.10

Today, what I have observed of the elderly is that they require a lot of need to pick up stuff due to their aging stiff backs, I personally think that we could invent some tool that can do that for them. As from what i seen when i pass by guardian today, I saw some walking sticks integrated with a chair which was what my family had bought for my grandfather for some overseas trip use. It seems the models have changed to be more portable with more features.

P.S The 4 weeks was all typed in pen&paper so i was just transferring stuff in.

Holiday Hmk Part 1

Here are the four key recommendations in the report which I will be elaborating:

1. Elder-friendly housing

By elder-friendly housing, in my own opinion, is to provide the elderly proper accommodation, enough money to pay for the electricity and water bill even though retired. By Elder-Friendly housing, the prime factor is to make things affordable, easy and happy for the elderly.

2. Barrier-free society

In my view point of barrier-free society, it best describe by accepting the elderly as people who has needs and we are there to help. Like a simple giving away a seat to the elderly is also considered constructing a barrier-free society. It's the way the elderly feel accepted in the society and do not have the impression that they are burdens of the society but couldn't do anything about it.

3. Holistic affordable healthcare and eldercare

Regarding the above topic is a growing one. More and more elderly are getting some unsightly diseases that are very life-threatening. Same, they are retired with no income and paying for healthcare is hard. Example paying for a hospital stay without a government subsidy will already stress out the elderly. So, the government has to provide support to the elderly by assisting them in healthcare and eldercare.

4. Active lifestyles and well-being

To ensure the active lifestyles and well-being is just as simple as saying hi to an elderly when you see them, they will feel more recognized in the society rather than a burden. Family bonding is also a great thing to do. The elderly can sometimes hangout at the various places for a game of chess or even a simple chit-chat. In conclusion, active lifestyles and well being is easily said as maintaining a relationship, kinship and friendship.

Why Elder-Friendly housing?

We need to provide a wider range of options to cater to a more diverse baby boomer cohort with higher expectations. These housing options need to be fitted with age-sensitive features to enable seniors to remain independent.

How do we ensure that the quality of eldercare here in Singapore is affordable?

The government will top up Medisave accounts of less well-off Singaporeans when there are budget surpluses. Not only that, f

amily physicians have to play an important role in the management of healthcare needs for seniors. Follow-ups by a dedicated family physician within close proximity to the client will ensure that seniors’ multiple needs will be comprehensively and holistically taken care of. 

What can we do to help as SST students?

There is lots of things we could do, referring to the above 4 outcomes, it turns out that we can start off by showing more of our concern and love to our grandparents or any elderly close to us. Secondly, when we see a elder at the MRT/LRT train without a seat, we will show our politeness and give the seat to he/she so that they will feel that their needs are recognize. Lastly, we can innovate ideas for a better living lifestyle in their living room by constructing some fairly good systems to aid them when at home.