Tackling Abuse of the Elderly

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong asked the Minister for Social and Family Development (a) what are the safeguards put in place to prevent elder abuse and neglect from becoming more prevalent as our society ages and the pace of life becomes faster; (b) whether existing measures can be strengthened; and (c) what role can neighbours and the larger community play in looking out for the welfare of vulnerable seniors and reporting abuse cases.

The Minister for Social and Family Development (Mr Tan Chuan-Jin): Mdm Speaker, ageing well is something that we all should strive for. Just as there are exciting opportunities, there are also concerns that we do need to look out for as we go forward. Some elderly persons will become vulnerable due to their physical state, mental condition or social isolation. There is a need to step up efforts to protect these seniors from abuse and neglect.

One main cause of abuse is caregiving, which can be challenging and stressful. To support caregivers, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and Ministry of Health (MOH) are expanding the range of services available – day care centres, home care and respite care. There is also an eldercare hotline and a Caregiver Training Grant for caregivers to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to care for their loved ones.

My Ministry is taking further steps to strengthen our system to detect and respond to potential abuse and neglect of vulnerable persons. We are working with social service agencies to train our community partners and grassroots leaders to better recognise signs and symptoms. We are also bringing more community agencies and touch-points into our National Family Violence Network to be more responsive to reports of abuse and neglect.

If I may illustrate – just yesterday, myself and Edwin were visiting the residents in the Joo Chiat area to understand what were the issues on the ground. One of the issues was precisely one that the Member had raised – the number of elderly in the estate. A number of them may be living alone and, therefore, how best do we look out for their welfare. This is where I think there is a system approach from Government agencies and VWOs. But I believe that there is space for the community to play an active role. How do we reach out to find out who these old people are, how are they doing, what is their welfare like, are we able to organise amongst ourselves regular visits to check on them, or to visit them just to keep them company, and I think you can build up a network which actually will strengthen community ties but at the same time looking out for the elderly in our own community itself. And do you then fuse this in with the broader systems provided by VWOs and the agencies concerned? I think that is an area that we can look at as a model to develop not only just in a particular area, which is ageing, but across the island because this is a trend that will develop in Singapore in the not very distant future.

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In addition, we will also – and this is important – strengthen our laws to better protect vulnerable adults. We will be introducing a new Vulnerable Adults Bill later this year, which will empower public officers to gain access to homes, assess the risks, act on suspected abuse and provide statutory protection to the victim where needed.

To be able to attend to suspected cases early and prevent serious harm, again, we will need help from the community. Those of us who are living in the environment – neighbours, friends – we can help to pick up tell-tale signs. Doctors, social workers, various people in the community, when we begin to pick up issues, we can flag it up when we are concerned. Community partners and members of the public, really, you are the eyes and ears on the ground. Neighbours can reach out and offer practical support to caregivers, such as referring them to support services or attend to the elderly where possible. But if abuse or neglect is suspected, they should notify the police, call the Comcare hotline or alert MSF-funded Family Violence Specialist Centres. For this reason, we are spreading the message that abuse and neglect should not be condoned, and all of us in the community can play a role.

Mdm Speaker: Ms Irene Ng.

Ms Irene Ng Phek Hoong: Thank you, Mdm Speaker. Elder abuse may be more common than is recognised, particularly amongst seniors with dementia or other cognitive impairments. Will the Minister agree that the barriers to recognising and reporting elder abuse should be addressed? One of them is the lack of a clear definition of elder abuse. Other barriers to reporting elder abuse include lack of knowledge, denial, fear of making the situation worse, desire to maintain family relationships, fear of ending up in court or a lack of belief that the situation will improve. Can I ask the Minister how does the Ministry plan to deal with these barriers? What are the Ministry's plans to increase the public's awareness of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, and to educate people on detecting, intervening and responding to such cases?

Madam, elder abuse is associated with increased use of health services. Health professionals are thus well positioned to spot elder abuse. Would the Minister also consider making it mandatory for health professionals report suspected elder abuse?

Mr Tan Chuan-Jin: Mdm Speaker, I fully agree with the concerns expressed by the Member. As we all know, as more of us age, I think, like I said, it is important that we age well but there are vulnerabilities. For the reasons that she has cited, there are various barriers, which is why, as a whole, the community needs to play a part, so that between all of us, somewhere along the line, we ensure that no one falls between the gaps. Firstly, families, and I think one will be education, and we will want to step up more in terms of creating awareness amongst family members. And this is even amongst the elderly themselves to understand what represents neglect and what recourse is available to them.

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Secondly, I think for within the family, it is not just immediate family, there is also the extended family, when we begin to detect that something is not quite right, would the family members, whether immediate or otherwise, be able to intervene? And then you have the broader community, you have friends, neighbours, people who are in the community that you associate with, for example, medical healthcare workers will be one example. I am not sure whether we are at the stage where we want to make it mandatory but we can also make sure that they do understand what the symptoms are, what are the signs to look out for, and whether could they, in turn, trigger the process in terms of alerting the local SSOs, Family Service Centres, to be able to follow up on these cases. So, really, it takes the whole community. Just as we say it takes the entire village to raise a child, I think it takes an entire village to look after our elderly as well.

So I think raising awareness; education, that is something we need to do; strengthening the laws is important because the change of the laws will allow us to step in even when the barriers are there, meaning that where we deem that an individual's welfare is at stake, the laws will allow us to step in and intervene. But this is where I said, there is only so much that you can mandate, but I think there is a very big role for the community to play. If all of us begin to be aware of how we could contribute to that, I think we can actually bring down the numbers. Although the numbers may not be large but I think for the elderly who are affected by this, it is not just physically traumatic, I think it is emotionally very trying, especially when it comes from family members. So it behooves all of us to play a part.

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