Despite being 85 years old with limited mobility, retired senior Lim Heng Huat maintains an active social life. He visits the active ageing centre located in the void deck of his Ghim Moh flat every weekday morning to play mahjong and shoot the breeze with fellow silvers, while receiving regular visits from nieces, nephews and other relatives.
Even so, he looks forward to his weekly two-hour sessions with Jason Lee, a freelance home-based caregiver, because he considers the younger senior a friend.
Interestingly enough, the pair’s friendship was forged just a year ago. Jason is relatively young in the field of part-time caregiving, having signed up in 2018 after retiring from his day job managing logistics on Jurong Island.
The 70-year-old dedicates around 20 hours a week to his retirement gig, with one of his previous clients being Heng Huat’s older brother. The elder Lim passed on recently, leading to Jason’s referral to Heng Huat by the social service agency Caregiving Welfare Association (CWA)), which runs a home-based personal care service to support caregivers or seniors who need a bit of extra help.
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From home home-based personal care provider to friend
But what can part-time caregivers do in just two hours a week, compared to the 33 hours that primary informal caregivers provide according to a recent survey by the Duke-NUS Medical School?
"What many seniors need is a listening ear – someone who can sit down with them and talk to them."
Granted, he says that his “good relationship” with Heng Huat stems partially from his lucidity and therefore, independence. People who require caregiving are often too frail to do numerous tasks of daily living without help – such as eating or showering – or are otherwise impaired, perhaps due to dementia.
In situations where clients require a higher level of assistance, community caregivers like Jason are trained to provide everything from aiding with oral feeding to medicine reminders and medical escorts to appointments.
Though these caregivers often can’t be around all the time, their presence reduces the burden of care on primary informal caregivers, who are often direct relatives or friends of the person requiring care.
CWA provides round-the-clock home-based personal care, subject to availability from their growing pool of community caregivers. According to CWA, some 120 homebound seniors and their caregivers benefited from its home-based personal care service last year.
Though the non-profit doesn’t usually publish their rates online – you have to contact them directly for a quote – they are competitively priced. As a way of comparison, such services usually go for around $20 to $40 per hour, according to home care service provider Homage. The cost for this service with the Agency for Integrated Care starts from $25 per hour.
The cost goes down significantly for households that are eligible for means-tested government subsidies. Singapore citizens can get up to 80% off home personal care services along with various grants to train caregivers, refurbish their home for caregiving or defray home caregiving costs.
Learning journey for the home-based caregiver
Though working as a part-time caregiver gives Jason the flexibility to earn some “pocket money” without “overstressing [his] body”, it is also a personal journey for a silver reckoning with his ageing journey.
"I'm lucky to still be full of energy with all four limbs healthy and working well, but this is something that we all have to go through in the end."
For now, he’s just happy that he’s able to perform the dual role of both caregiver and friend for Eng Huat.
"Even if they're just looking forward to a chat, it’s part of our job to keep our promises."
CWA Caregiving Week, themed a "A Lifeline For Seniors", will be happening 16 to 21 September. It focuses on supporting and empowering seniors and their caregivers. The week will culminate on 21 September with Caregiving Fest, an open-to-public event bringing together talks, booths and performances to inspire the community to come together in caring for Singapore. More information here.
