Love love love this initiative!

Totally screams occupational therapy too! While meals-on-wheels services mean well to make things simpler for the single elderly by having their daily meals delivered to them… they also have a flipside. By keeping them in their homes, there is an increased risk of social isolation and the loss of community roles that were once meaningful to them.

Which is why I hate being asked by the care coordinator/case manager if my elderly patient is “fit” for community mobility upon discharge. Well, who I am to predict? Say yes, and the elderly may still have a recurrent fall months later. Say no, the elderly will be confined home with meals delivery, housekeeping and escort services assigned to his “case”.

I am so heartened to see this small initiative that encourage active engagement of the seniors – who may otherwise be living alone in their rental HDB flats. It is particularly meaningful involving familiar daily tasks like grocery shopping, meal preparation and cooking. Plus they even have a separate area for Halal-needs, how thoughtful! Food does bond people together and transcends differences. The void deck provides an avenue to form informal social support networks too. 

It takes a whole community to do this, and I hope more initiatives like this can be rolled out across other ageing estates.