My Rubik’s cube explanation to Eldercare – potential suggestions and solutions Part 6B
In Part 6A, we wrote on the possible types of accommodation here in Singapore for continual nursing care for a dependent older adult.
We are still on the edge cube depicting Yellow/Red/Blue, denoting the vendors for manpower, products, and services in this industry.
Manpower -
Manpower has been of an acute issue here in Singapore for the past 10 year, with the government increasing the number of medical students from my time of 170 in one medical school to 500 in 3 medical schools as of 2019. On the nursing side, NUS nursing school only started in 2005, while in the past, 2 polytechnics, namely Nanyang and Ngee Ann, was providing a nursing diploma course.
We are also accepting many overseas graduates on the nursing side for the past 20 years and hospitals have been very proactive in the past to have overseas recruitment drives to reach out to these pools of carers. Allied health personals like physio, occupational and speech therapists are in great demand now as well, prompting the launch of Bsc/Bcs (hon) of physiotherapy in the Singapore Institute of Technology in recent years.
Last but most importantly, trained caregivers for the dependent older adults are in a greater need than ever. Ministry of Manpower has started advance placement scheme (APS) in 2016 https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-foreign-domestic-worker/advance-placement-scheme
To allow families needing caregivers urgently so that their loved ones may be discharged promptly. Agency for Integrated Care further enhance this scheme by having at least 3 days of caregiver training in accredited organizations and some require them to go to the hospital and learn from the nurse tube feeding skills and bedsore prevention. MOH Eldercarer FDW program with subsidies on the levy from $300 down to $60 are a few initiatives to support these manpower needs.
https://www.aic.sg/caregiving/Eldercarer%20Foreign%20Domestic%20Worker%20Scheme
To further strengthen the training and expertise of these specialised caregivers, some of the maid agencies bring in trained caregivers, for example from Golden Lotus Training Academy in Myanmar https://www.facebook.com/pg/thegoldenlotus.yangon.myanmar/about/ who has been training caregivers to care for the dependent older adults since 2014.
Products and Services –
There are many new vendors starting to either produce their newer products like food for elders (SATS) https://www.sats.com.sg/SolutionsandServices/ByIndustry/Healthcare/Pages/Healthcare.aspx and other non-traditional players in the silver industry like transportation companies such as Silveray, https://www.silveray.com.sg/ , evolved and scaled rapidly in the past 5 years catering to the needs of more dependent older adults.
We also see a surge of products meant traditionally for the Disability market coming up and catering to the increasing pool of dependent older persons.
Equipment such as hospital furniture like hospital bed, commode chair, wheelchair, geriatrics chair and various diapers, wipes and barrier creams have been getting much demand. Agency of Integrated Care, through its Senior Mobility and Enabling Funding (SMEF) heavily subsidies such products and disposables since the early 2010s.
https://www.aic.sg/financialassistance/Seniors%20Mobility%20And%20Enabling%20Fund%20(SMF)
There are many vendors whom I worked with. Many of them open for long hours and during the holidays as well.
Here are some vendors in Singapore providing hospital furniture and rehabilitation equipment:
1. The Golden Concepts - https://www.thegoldenconcepts.com/
2. Lifeline - https://www.lifeline.com.sg/
3. Rainbow Care - https://www.rainbowcare.com.sg/
4. Rehab Mart Homecare - https://rehabmart.com.sg/
5. DNR Wheels - https://www.dnrwheels.com/
6. Bion Group - https://www.bionmedicalgroup.com/
My favourite stall (perhaps everyone’s favourite) to buy the consumables like diapers, feeding tubes, and milk supplements will be Tong Hai Department Store. This is a seemingly simple “mama” shop under the void deck in the Heartlands of Ang Mo Kio but they have been selling thousands of items at a reasonable price - https://www.facebook.com/TongHaidepartmentstore/
On the legal side, newer law firms like Kith & Kin Law https://www.kithkinlaw.com/ provides advice to individuals, families and family businesses on Succession, Trust, Estate and Mental Capacity matters (“STEM” law matters).
The courts have also been providing new services like iFAMS for families to apply for deputyships under the mental capacity act.
https://ifams.gov.sg/sop/#iFAMS
Even conference producers are into the Silver Industry. The recently ended Eldex Asia 2019 was a great success in its inaugural show. Such shows will get bigger as the demand grows in the near future across Asia!