Debated in Parliament on 3 Nov 2021.
Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Government will work with the primary care network to establish a dedicated clinical pathway or referral to appropriate physical activity programmes for frail and pre-frail seniors; (b) whether the Healthy Ageing Promotion Programme for You (HAPPY) programme can be scaled up; and (c) whether and how primary care physicians, community nurses and the wider social community network can work together to identify and support the needs of community-dwelling frail seniors.
The Ministry of Health (MOH), Health Promotion Board (HPB) and healthcare clusters have put in place a variety of programmes to support seniors to stay active and prevent or delay functional decline. The Healthy Ageing Promotion Programme For You (HAPPY) programme is one such example. Since April 2019, the programme has been progressively rolled out at new sites islandwide, including the Eldercare Centres (ECs). It is now available at more than 110 locations. COVID-19 has disrupted the pace of roll out, but we plan to continue the scale-up to new sites as senior activities are able to gradually resume.
Within the community, primary care providers, healthcare clusters and community care providers are already working together to ensure that seniors receive the care they need. For example, the ECs link up seniors to care and social support services and ensure their medical issues are addressed and care provided is holistic and appropriate. Some of these sites are also supported by community nursing teams from the healthcare clusters. The community nurses provide a range of services such as health screening and coaching, falls and frailty assessment, chronic disease monitoring and caregivers’ education and training. They also refer the seniors to their regular primary care doctor if a medical consultation is needed and refer frail and pre-frail seniors for appropriate physical activity programmes based on their assessed needs and conditions.
The Silver Generation Office (SGO) actively reaches out to seniors at their homes, identify vulnerable seniors including those who are frail, and link them up to care and support services such as the community nursing teams for their healthcare needs and social agencies for the identified social needs.
PAPERCUTS