New eldercare centre at West Coast provides integrated services

SINGAPORE - The SASCO Integrated Eldercare Centre (SIECC) located at Block 704, West Coast Road, was officially opened on Saturday by Mr S Iswaran, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Home Affairs and Trade and Industry.

The 800sqm SIECC can care for a total of 85 seniors. Services offered include maintenance day care, which includes social and recreational activities and assistance with activities of daily living like showering and feeding, dementia day care, community rehabilitation, nursing care and the Singapore Programme for Integrated Care for the Elderly (SPICE).

Under SPICE, a multi-disciplinary team including nurses, physiotherapists and doctors will also take care of old people who are more frail, wheelchair-bound or require devices like urinary catheters.

Depending on their needs, elderly clients will have personalised care plans designed by the centre to support them to continue living within the community and improve their functional and/or cognitive abilities.

For example, elderly clients who are frailer can be cared for under SPICE where a multi-disciplinary team comprising medical, nursing, allied health and ancillary professionals will see to their more complex care needs. Centre staff will also support and work in tandem with families of the elderly to help them live well and age gracefully.

During the day, the elderly are cared for at SIECC. In the evenings, they are able to return home to spend time with their loved ones.

Chairman of SASCO, Mr C V Nathan shares that, "SASCO has had a long history of providing services to the elderly and we have been fortunate that we are able to partner the Ministry of Health and the Agency for Integrated Care in expanding our services to include the SPICE programme. We are proud to be able to provide more services to the frail elderly with our team of care professionals."

To encourage the elderly to come to the centre to keep active and engage in rehabilitation, SASCO will provide specially-outfitted vans for wheelchair bound clients. It also provides a "door-to-door" escort service between the residential home and SIECC for elderly clients staying nearby.

candicec@sph.com.sg