More helping hands will be extended to people suffering from dementia, through community efforts that are being strengthened even as the incidence rises in Singapore with the ageing population.
The Health Ministry said in early March 2018 that it would increase the number of dementia-friendly communities here from six to 15 in the next three years or so. Amongst the six, Yishun was the first so-called dementia-friendly community here, set up by Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) and the Lien Foundation under the Forget Us Not initiative. So far, under the initiative, KTPH has provided training for about 20,000 lay people from 90 organisations nationwide.
KTPH is also working with Apex Harmony Lodge, the first home for people with dementia here, to empower people with mild dementia to continue to lead dignified lives by engaging in work as a form of therapy to provide meaning and purpose, said Associate Professor Philip Yap, senior consultant and director of the geriatric centre at KTPH.
Another community effort, which started in August 2017 in the western region and is set to expand, aims to help frail elderly people delay the onset of dementia through engaging in specific exercises. Being old and frail puts one at a high risk of developing dementia.
More than 300 elderly folk in the west have done the exercises twice a week for at least six months at various community and senior activity centres under the Healthy Ageing Promotion Programme For You (HAPPY). And about 100 of them have been recruited for longitudinal follow-up, to see if the exercises will help to improve their memory, and reduce frailty and associated disability, said Associate Professor Reshma Merchant, head and senior consultant at the division of geriatric medicine at National University Hospital.
These are not simple exercises but dual-task activities that are adapted from the “Cognicise” programme at the National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology (NCGG) in Japan. In Japan, the Cognicise programme has run for more than three years, and has shown that those with mild cognitive impairment showed significant improvement in memory after doing these activities for 10 months, said Prof Merchant.
“These dual-task exercises work the body as well as the mind, and encourage the person to focus on coordinating the two activities, which help with cognitive ability, preventing frailty and reducing disability.”
Prof Merchant said they are working with the Agency for Integrated Care to scale it up in Singapore and have plans to launch it in other parts of Singapore.
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Source: The Straits Times, 13 March 2018