Partnering PAP Community Foundation to meet the needs of the ageing population in Simei
2 April 2016 – The PAP Community Foundation (PCF) officially opened its first senior care centre on Saturday, 2 April 2016 with Mr. Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Chairman, PCF Council of Management as the Guest-of-Honour for the Official Opening Ceremony. Mrs. Josephine Teo, Senior Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Transport as well as Chairman, PCF Executive Committee; Ms. Jessica Tan, Member of Parliament, East Coast GRC and Mr. Alex Yam, Member of Parliament, Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC were also present as Special Guests.
The new Sparkle Care @ Changi Simei is a response by PCF to the growing needs of the community in caring for the elderly. With this new role, PCF aims to provide quality and affordable dementia, maintenance, rehabilitation and nursing care to seniors, in addition to its significant role in early childhood education.
Mr. Lawrence Wong said at the ceremony, “In the 60s, PCF responded to the need for pre-school services by setting up kindergartens in void decks. Subsequently, with changing demand and needs, we shifted to full-day childcare services. Now with a rapidly ageing population, we are seeing greater needs on the ground for senior care services. That is why we are starting this new service. Because we have little experience in this area, we decided to start by partnering with the Alzheimer’s Disease Association and St. Andrew’s Community Hospital (SACH) in providing dementia care and day rehabilitation services respectively.
Dr. Loh Yik Hin, Chief Executive Officer, SACH, commented, “This partnership is a wonderful example of voluntary welfare organisations coming together to meet the increasing needs of the frail elderly in our community. SACH and Changi General Hospital are both located at Simei and a significant number of our patients live there. This new centre will definitely help in supporting and enabling them to age-inplace in the community.”
