W11 Successful Ageing (F&K)

Method

Qualitative
Interview

organised by different SES levels with proper gender and ethnic composition

Interviewed 49 elderly SG in English, Malay, Mandarin

National Survey

sample size 1540

Result

Successful ageing perceptions among
elderly Singaporeans

Dimensions of R&K model in Asian context

Good health

Economic / social engagement

dimensions in R & K model essential for elderly Singaporeans

overlap explainable by heavy influence of Western culture in Singapore

Strong presence of familism

co-residence with children

receiving care from children

Simultaneously valued independence and dependence

expecting care from children from old age (dependence) but do not want to burden family (independence)

SG adults still value filial piety although may not value obedience to parents

SES differences

Higher SES

Ethnic Differences

Local Malays and Indians value family support more than Chinese

corroborates with ethnic differences in household structures

  • 2010 avg household size for Chinese: 3.4
  • 2010 avg household size for Indian: 3.6
  • 2010 avg household size for Malay: 4.2

larger household size for Malays and Indians

facilitates more intense intergenerational exchanges

Religion likely contributing factor

devalued role of family in taking care of other family members

larger emphasis on friends or social activities

could be due to access to alternative means of care needs to lower involvement with family

Limitations

More than 60% of respondents

Extensibility
of findings

Current Policies

made successful aging goal of national policies in late 1990s

further refined this goal into 4 specific subthemes in 2007

enhance employability and financial security

provide holistic and affordable health and elder care

allow for ageing-in-place

promote active ageing

correspond with the theme of Successful Ageing 2.0

Markers of successful ageing

Ability of family to deliver eldercare as expected by elderly individuals

Volunteerism may be more western oriented

Only 6% of Singaporeans older than 55 volunteer at least yearly

Latent class analysis

4 Types

Group 2 (15%)

displayed no interest in counting on children for successful ageing

Group 3 (7%)

unsure of the role of spouse and children

more attention needed to understand their situation and needs

Group 4 (8.8%)

little interest in social activity

potentially target for policy interventions

standard in Successful Ageing 2.0

did not study oldest-old (85 and above)

Islam beliefs, norms, practices

cultural & religious expectations for children to care for elderly

Hinduism well known for emphasis on filial piety

unable to generalise to other nations even within Asia

purposive sampling for qualitative interviews may introduce biases

participants asked to rate subjective components of SA on levels of importance