Taking eldercare to new heights

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an “exoskeleton” – a wearable robotic suit that enables wheelchair-bound people to walk at multiple speeds and even climb steps.

texture-modified foods for people with swallowing difficulties. Items of dim sum displayed looked exactly like those you would order in a restaurant except that the ingredients have been specially rendered to make it easier and safer to swallow.

the main obstacles to improving eldercare are non-technological. They have to do with such things as broader health policies, infrastructure, mechanisms for social connection and integration, labour policies, managerial and caregiving skills and innovative approaches to dealing with elders.

More elder-friendly housing is coming on stream with “vertical kampungs” and other assisted-living facilities such as Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok, which will offer flats designed to be elder-friendly, with easy access to medical attention. They will come with short and flexible leases of between 15 and 35 years, which will make them affordable to many senior citizens.

labour policy reforms in recent years that are pro-elder, including the increase in the proposed retirement age, a call for more flexible working hours with part-time work options, financial support for older workers under the SkillsFuture scheme and subsidies to employers to hire such workers.

Qn: To what extent can technology address the challenges of the elderly?