More organisations join AWWA project to engage seniors with dementia
Published on
19 Nov 2024
Published by
The Straits Times
SINGAPORE – Mr Remus Tan, a 72-year-old retired product planner, has visited Faith Music Centre in Stadium Walk over six sessions to learn how to play instruments like the drums and guitar.
“Music is the best in the world. It frees your mind,” said Mr Tan, who is a fan of 1970s pop group The Bee Gees.
He is among over 80 seniors with dementia who have taken part in social service agency AWWA’s Care Beyond Walls project.
Under the project, seniors with dementia visit AWWA’s partner organisations, where they participate in activities to improve their mental and physical well-being in a natural and inclusive setting.
Mr Alvin Yeo, founder of Faith Music Centre, said its activities for seniors encourage movement, spark creativity and help maintain muscle memory.
“We recognise that music is a powerful tool for seniors living with dementia as it offers not just a means of engagement, but a way to express themselves and tap into fond memories,” he said.
“Even when our seniors forget who they are, or who’s around them, the familiar melody of a song can bring comfort and feelings of safety.”
Faith Music Centre is one of the project’s newer host organisations.
At a recent media briefing, AWWA said the project now has 12 partner organisations, after it launched in 2022 with three – Elias Park Primary School, Jamiyah Childcare Centre and Sri Darma Muneeswaran Temple.
The newer host organisations, which were selected based on the seniors’ interests, include dog shelter Save Our Street Dogs, Qian Hu Fish Farm and Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery.
Generally, the seniors take on purposeful tasks, such as preparing ingredients at Willing Hearts Kitchen for meals for the needy or harvesting vegetables at Presbyterian High School’s vertical farm.
Only 50 per cent of the organisations that AWWA has approached for the project have come on board.
When Care Beyond Walls was launched, the agency said it hoped to partner 30 host organisations by March 2024.
Ms Chua Shi Jia, senior occupational therapist of AWWA’s allied health professional group, said: “Dementia is still a condition that is much stigmatised and there’s a lot of fear from the organisations whether they can handle these seniors appropriately.”
As part of the onboarding programme, the agency trains staff and other participants at host organisations through workshops to develop their skills and confidence to better interact with people with dementia. AWWA staff accompany the seniors to these organisations for their activities.
As AWWA continues to speak to more interested parties, the number of host organisations is expected to grow across different sectors. This is a reflection of encouraging shifts in societal attitudes, Ms Chua said.
“We encourage more to come forward and take on the role of host organisations so that we can enhance the ways in which our seniors contribute to and participate as active members of the community,” she added.
Modelled after Healthier SG’s social prescription efforts, Care Beyond Walls activities are planned according to three pillars: volunteering, inter-generational exchange, and learning and discovery.
Mr J.R. Karthikeyan, chief executive of AWWA, said the activities outside the agency’s centres not only nurture the seniors’ cognitive abilities and aid in preventive care, they also help them participate in society and gain a stronger sense of meaning and purpose.
Mr Hashim Ahmad, a 72-year-old retired security worker, visits Elias Park Primary School every Wednesday to engage in fun activities such as baking, crafts and horticulture after school hours.
He is like a grandfather to Aditi Harihar, 11, a Primary 5 pupil.
“The children are very helpful and talkative. Aditi and I like to sing, so I teach her to sing Rasa Sayang,” said Mr Hashim, who has 14 grandchildren.
Aditi said: “When I wake up on Wednesdays, I get excited thinking that I will meet the seniors again. My grandparents are in India, so Mr Hashim is like a grandpa to me.”
Including Mr Hashim, 57 seniors from AWWA’s Dementia Day Care Centre in Ang Mo Kio have participated in Care Beyond Walls programmes. Another 25 from the Dementia Day Care Centre in Yishun joined the project in 2024.
In Singapore, about one in 10 seniors aged 60 and above – approximately 80,000 people – are living with dementia. By 2030, the number is expected to increase to more than 150,000, as Singapore’s population ages rapidly.
By the end of 2026, AWWA hopes to expand the project to engage at least 150 seniors, up from the existing 82, across its two Dementia Day Care Centres and increase the seniors’ volunteering hours from the current 788 to 2,000 hours.
The project benefits not just seniors with dementia but also the participants from the host organisations.
Madam Iza Mariah, a teacher at Elias Park Primary School, said: “We want to nurture our students to have resilience and empathy. They have learnt to be more patient and understanding, such as by speaking slowly to the seniors.”
Organisations keen to be part of the project can reach out to AWWA at volunteer@awwa.org.sg and reference Care Beyond Walls.
Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Reproduced with permission.
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