My grandaunt is in a nursing home. She’s frail, immobile and with signs of dementia. Her family decided she would be best given round-the-clock care. But frankly, it breaks our hearts every time we have to leave her after a visit.
We depend on strangers to care for her, many of them foreigners because it’s been hard getting locals to work in the sector.
By 2030, 1 in 4 Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above, up from 1 in 6 today. That’s in only 7 years! To cope, we’d need 24,000 more people to work as allied health professionals and eldercare care staff.
How can we achieve this? Are we forced to look at technology for answers?
In the coming weeks, Talking Point will also examine other social issues affecting groups of everyday Singaporeans.
Look out for our new series on platform delivery riders, children in public rental flats, and millennials coping with rising costs of living. We investigate what’s Beyond Plain Sight to delve intimately into the gritty realities of their daily lives.
Imelda Saad
Executive Producer, Talking Point
