Going beyond traditional research, GERI’s Health Policy Group tackles policy challenges for population health impact

Recognising that sound policies are implementable ones, a dedicated team of GERI researchers set about to address health policy challenges affecting our older population. We lift the veil on how GERI's Health Policy Group goes beyond traditional research to help policymakers understand what could work, what might not and why when it comes to healthy ageing in Singapore's context. 

From the Action Plan for Successful Ageing to Age Well SG, the road to healthy ageing in Singapore is carefully paved with policymakers’ good intentions—that is, to improve the overall health and well-being of the older population. To support policymakers in actualising this vision, a dedicated GERI team has been producing evidence-based research to address questions that arise from decision-making. 

“The recent formation of the Health Policy Group (HPG) at GERI brings together individuals who are committed to contribute beyond conducting traditional research,” said Associate Professor Ding Yew Yoong, Executive Director. The HPG’s foray into this unique breed of research “is aimed at bridging the evidence-practice policy gap on healthy ageing in Singapore,” added Dr Edward Tan, Senior Manager, Research Administration and HPG member.

Such research involves going the extra mile. Leveraging GERI’s position as national research institute, the HPG’s work entails engaging stakeholders from across Singapore’s healthcare clusters and sectors, to square research evidence with hard questions—what aspects of potential policy could work and what would not, given factors such as older adults’ complex health and social needs and differing operating contexts. “After all, health policies can only be as useful as they are implementable,” observed Dr Tan.

Unpacking policy possibilities for community-based frailty assessment​

As frailty spikes in Singapore, urgent policy questions are emerging about the best way to assess and manage the condition, especially at the community level. In support of the MOH Frailty Implementation Workgroup, the HPG has kicked off a multi-stage policy research effort on brief forms of geriatric assessment for older adults in the community.

The need for this arose due to a lack of local evidence regarding brief geriatric assessments in lieu of Comprehensive Geriatric Assessm​ents (CGAs). While CGAs are the gold standard in assessing older adults' bio-psycho-social needs including frailty levels, they are resource-intensive and pose challenges for community-wide implementation.

The first stage is an evidence synthesis of the existing knowledge landscape, which will guide questions posed to a Delphi panel, convened by GERI, to gather expert consensus and set priorities. Practitioners, as well as domain experts from acro​ss Singapore's healthcare clusters and professional societies, are part of this panel. To deliberate on the outcomes of the panel, the HPG will engage stakeholders and implementers from organisations ranging from Active Ageing Centres to policy bodies, with the goal of generating guidance for primary and community care practitioners.

“Through engagements with experts and implementers, we hope to deliver what is known from the best available research evidence to our relevant stakeholders and catalyse meaningful changes in day-to-day practice and policies," said Dr Tan.

Informing dementia policy through evidence-based research

In step with the national push for community-based healthcare, GERI has also contributed towards a rapid review to identify brief screening tools for possible dementia in the community. The findings informed evidence-based decision-making by the Ministry of Health (MOH)'s Dementia Policy Workgroup. 

The study team comprised of domain experts – geriatricians from across the three healthcare clusters, including GERI faculty – as well as methodology experts from the Singapore Clinical Research Institute. HPG member and Research Associate Penny Lun was part of the GERI team that supported the evidence synthesis and coordinated multi-institutional input. Read more here.​

Reflecting on the importance of such work, Associate Professor Ding said, “Conducting health policy research and supporting evidence-informed policymaking are overlapping activities that have the potential of impacting population health in Singapore. They comprise a major component of GERI's efforts in the T4 (to population) tran​​slational stage."

“It is my hope that the HPG's work will grow to be effective in addressing contemporary policy issues across Singapore's ageing landscape," he added.