We had a twin celebration of Norman's Graduation and National Day at ASPIRE55. Norman has just graduated from Nanyang Technological University and we are proud to be part of the celebrations for him. Thank you to all our members who contributed towards being part of our celebrations and especially to our members who displayed such wonderful cooking skills and a sharing spirit. 

 

ASPIRE55 is about intergenerational aspirational ageing – young and old supporting each other to age in our own homes.  Ageing impacts us at all ages. Whether we are 25, 45, or 65, we all have someone around us that is growing older. I have always looked forward to growing older, having the maturity to process experiences, appreciating life for what it gives us, contentment and having the financial security and luxury of time to do the things that mean the most to me.

I believe each generation’s outlook towards quality of life and lifestyle is different. Our approach towards filial piety is changing as we head towards a world without borders and smaller family units. In the past, being filial means that you hire someone to look after your parents as they age, and to them, this was a much appreciated gesture and a sign that they are well loved by their children. However, a very wise Professor once told me, if you care too much for someone, you remove their ability to be independent. If you stop letting someone boil water for six months, they will forget how to boil water.

The current generation of baby boomers (55 – 67 years old) and older adults are a more well educated, widely traveled and  fiercely independent group. They value their freedom, they are financially secure, and are health conscious. They view living with their children as a choice, and many have already chosen not to. Instead, the approach towards filial piety for this group is now transforming to “how we can make them happy”.

Both “filial piety” and “laughter” is pronounced as “xiao” in mandarin. As our society evolves, so will our attitudes. One important question that we should ask ourselves is what can we do more to age in good health, with dignity and independence so that we can improve the quality of our life as we age. Happiness is more than the material things in life, its about having a sense of purpose and feeling emotionally fulfilled. The ageing population is not a challenge for our society, the bigger problem is social isolation and loneliness.

http://www.slideshare.net/janicechiahc/top-10-facts-ageinginplace-dementia-care-model-usa-hebrew-home-at-riverdale-edit

"Services focused on tracking health will be able to use the Watch interface to display relevant, up-to-the-minute statistics in a way that’s more convenient than on a smartphone, or on a monitoring device’s screen. It will do this using the processing power of your iPhone, rather than a mobile chip onboard the watch itself, and updates will be sent to the watch wirelessly." - http://www.wired.com/2015/02/apple-watch-apps/

80,000 people in SG will have Dementia by 2030. I went to visit De Hogeweyk two months ago in Amsterdam. its a wonderful environment that is very costly to build and operate, but the people living there are happy and the staff are happy and they attract a regular stream of committed volunteers. The benefits come in terms of reduced medications, lower staff turnover, lesser incidences of aggressive behaviors associated with living with Dementia. Whilst the first instincts of a lot of people is that such a facility is too expensive to built and it can't be done, maybe we just need to open our minds a little more, and explore what can be done. Just because we have built health and aged care facilities in a certain way in the last 100 years, doesn't mean we have to continue building them that way in future. We often don't think about such issues until our loved ones are put in that situation. For someone living with Dementia, their reality and ours is different, and what makes they happy is just what De Hogeweyk has achieved. I met with the founders, and for them and all their staff, seeing their loved ones cared for in such an environment brings such relief and comfort. Its a home where they would feel assured to have their loved ones living there. Pic attached was taken with one of the clients who lives there, she volunteers with pushing the lolly trolley every afternoon accompanied with a volunteer. Free lollies, most importantly, smiles all around from fellow neighbours and staff. If happiness was a KPI, perhaps the aged care world would be a little different.

I am often asked why a young person like myself would want to start ASPIRE55? When I first brought up the idea and brainstormed it with fellow co-founder, Yiing Ching (YC), we talked about it with our family members in mind. How would they age, where would they live, what type of activities and services they would need if they were to continue living in their own homes. As such, ASPIRE55 has been and will always be a family oriented village, where we bring our families and friends together, and we welcome new members into the ASPIRE55 family.

Grandma at 82 years old has always been one of my biggest inspirations for my focus on the ageing sector. When I brought her on a cruise recently, she was walking stronger and more steadily than people over 10 years younger than her. Since a year ago, she has been regularly introduced to different activities and new friends. She works out twice a week and she loves chatting with younger friends. When she goes to the park downstairs, she loves practicing English with our Caucasian neighbors.  Something I have learnt is that simply telling our loved ones to go out, go exercise, go make new friends, go take up a new course, does not work. If you care about your them, take the time to accompany them through the first step. Many of our members first visit to our club is accompanied by their friends or family members. Sometimes, all they need is just a little encouragement and support from us when we are trying to get them to try something new.

ASPIRE55 is pleased to provide twice weekly workout sessions for active 80+ seniors in Singapore with transport services. Each 90 minute session includes small group (6:1) strength training, stretching, and brain gym activities post workout. Tea and coffee refreshments and biscuits are also provided. Pick up and drop off available from your door stop.

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Sometimes as we get older, it gets a little harder to drive at night, or, perhaps you need some assistance heading to a hospital for a check up or operation. Our village driver offers the added reliability of someone waiting to pick you up at an appointed time at the location of your choice.