Better-designed eldercare centres can help turn 'Nimby' into 'Gimby'

MPs say this can help change residents' negative perception

By Salma Khalik & Andrea Ong, The Straits Times, 9 Oct 2012

WITH more than 100 new eldercare facilities coming up within communities by 2016, MPs said better-designed facilities are one factor that can help turn Nimby (not in my backyard) sentiments into Gimby (good in my backyard) ones.

This is especially so for nursing homes - 10 new ones will be built by 2015 - which tend to attract stronger opposition.

By 2016, 56 senior activity centres and 39 senior care centres will also be built across the island.

The Government will be spending $500 million on these facilities as it gears up to meet the needs of an ageing population.

Mr Sam Tan, MP for Radin Mas, thinks his residents will welcome the home that will be built in his constituency as it has a high proportion of elderly residents.

Residents seeking his help to place family members in a nursing home have asked for the facility to be near where they live to make it more convenient for regular visits, he said.

Still, he and his grassroots leaders will be talking to residents living near the site for the new home. He said: "We hope to engage residents on how it can be better designed and developed to be a Gimby facility benefiting all."

He added that the facility can also create jobs for residents in the area and make it easier for community volunteers or groups to visit the home.

Workers' Party chief Low Thia Khiang, who has been notified that a nursing home will be built in his Aljunied GRC, suggested that such facilities be designed in a way which will minimise inconvenience to nearby residents.

He said he has surveyed the site along Hougang Avenue 8 and given his feedback to the Health Ministry on how the home could be designed.

For instance, kitchens, which could generate noise and smells, should be located away from HDB blocks, he said.

The site is flanked by an HDB block and Montfort Secondary School. He does not foresee many problems as "I believe Singaporeans are a reasonable lot and have a good heart".

He said: "They will understand and know that there is a need for such facilities... Everybody gets old. Who knows, those who are objecting may one day need the facility."

Dr Lam Pin Min, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, said it is inevitable that more of such facilities will come up. "It is also logical to build these facilities near to where the target beneficiaries are, to minimise the inconvenience of having to travel long distances to reach these facilities," he noted.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong has said that Singapore needs 6,600 more nursing-home beds by 2020. This will come from existing homes as well as between 20 and 25 new homes.

One of the planned homes is in his constituency of Chua Chu Kang. Like other MPs, he will work with his grassroots team "to engage residents in the months ahead, to share with them our plans and to get their support".

He added: "I also welcome their ideas and participation to jointly build Chua Chu Kang into an outstanding neighbourhood that our seniors will be proud to call home."

No grouses about this nursing home

By Salma Khalik &?Maryam Mokhtar, The Straits Times, 9 Oct 2012

WITH its slick and modern facade, Bright Hill Evergreen Home looks like a low-rise condominium nestled among Housing Board blocks in Chua Chu Kang.

Few realise that it is in fact a 180-bed nursing home run by a voluntary welfare organisation.

"No one has complained," said Mr Zaqy Mohamad, who is the MP for the area. "The place is well-kept and looks like a condominium."

Flanked by a primary school and a Buddhist Soka centre, Bright Hill has tinted windows and a facade of textured brown rectangular panels.

The Straits Times spoke to 15 people in the neighbourhood and none had any issues with the home.

Housewife Judy Castro, 36, said: "We've never had any complaints; in fact, it's like you don't even notice it sometimes."

Mr Razali Ali, 37, who lives in a flat directly facing the home, initially thought it was part of the Soka centre next to it.

"It just blended in so well," said the civil servant. "We understand the need for it, and it doesn't stand out or obstruct the residents in any way."

Ms Patsy Pang, the home's nursing director, said: "The good thing about the design is that the windows don't face the public, so even on busy days, the activities are enclosed and don't affect residents at all."

The home will be moving to bigger premises with a "similarly aesthetic feel" in Punggol by March next year. The current place will be taken over by a private nursing home operator.

With more nursing homes being built as the country's population ages, some Singaporeans have voiced concerns that the value of their properties would fall if such a facility pops up in their neighbourhood. Another worry is the noise from dementia patients.

One in four patients at Man Fut Tong Nursing Home in Woodlands, closely surrounded by HDB flats, suffers from dementia.

The home, run by a volunteer welfare organisation, manages the problem with correct medication and ensuring that its residents stay awake in the day, so they will sleep well at night.

Ms Christina Loh, its nursing director, said complaints are rare since patients are well looked after and rarely scream.

To meet the high demand for home care, it will add another 75 beds to its existing 232 by moving its foreign workers out of the in-house dormitory.

The home also provides day-care and rehabilitation services to people living nearby, earning their appreciation. It also arranges transportation for those who have difficulty getting there.

Source: http://ifonlysingaporeans.blogspot.com/2012/10/better-designed-eldercare-centres-can.html

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