Ageing in Singapore: It takes a village to support our seniors (The Straits Times, 31 Jan 2025)
31 January 2025
Building supportive environments can move the needle for older adults’ health and well-being in a significant way, amplifying the outcomes of HealthierSG and other policy efforts, writes GERI’s Executive Director, Associate Professor Ding Yew Yoong in an op-ed published in The Straits Times on 31 Jan 2025.
Even as older adults contend with age-related conditions, he points out that healthy ageing is still possible – if they are buoyed by interpersonal connections, caregiving support, health-social services and other elements of an enabling ecosystem.
Social, non-medical factors account for up to 60% of health outcomes, and many of these factors are embedded in the community. “By converging our efforts around building supportive environments, we can target and strengthen many of these elements that affect older adults’ well-being. Given Singapore’s finite resources and a ticking clock as our population rapidly ages, this could be a strategic move,” says Associate Professor Ding.
The perennial challenge remains: how can we rally policymakers, healthcare practitioners, researchers and community partners around this shared goal? The op-ed explores a fresh approach towards fostering buy-in, as well as the role of research in implementing better health policies and programmes for our older population.
Read the op-ed on The Straits Times here.