Care Beyond Walls

Seniors attending a dementia daycare centre in Ang Mo Kio will no longer be cooped up within all day as is usually the case elsewhere. Instead, in a pilot social prescription service model operated out of a Social Service Agency, the seniors - dubbed the Silver Brigade - will be assigned regular and long-term volunteering duties at 30 host organisations by 2024 as a formal part of their Individualised Care Plans. At host organisations such as primary schools, preschools and places of worship, the seniors will take on carefully-selected non-mission-critical tasks with both practical value to the host organisation and therapeutic value to the seniors.

The Silver Brigade is one part of a larger $3.56m transformation of some of AWWA’s centres and services at Ang Mo Kio St 12. Named Care Beyond Walls, it will also comprise the redesign and extension of the operating hours of the AWWA Dementia Day Care Centre, the set-up of a next-generation active ageing centre, and a weekend and night respite service for caregivers. Phase 1, comprising the set-up of the Silver Brigade, extension of operating hours and weekend respite service, was completed in Nov 2022. Phase 2, comprising the rest of the components, is expected to be completed in mid-2023.