What's the Deal About Ageing in Place?

What exactly is ageing in place? In simple terms, it is about “growing old in the home, community and environment that one is familiar with, with minimal change or disruption to one‘s lives and activities” (as defined by the Committee on Ageing Issues in 2006).

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) recently shared some findings from the Sample Household Survey conducted back in 2018 (CNA, 10 February 2021).

HDB found that 86% of elderly residents living in HDB flats hope to stay where they are and grow older in their existing homes. According to the survey, residents “found it comfortable or had an emotional attachment to it, having developed fond memories of the time spent with their family in the flat”. The findings suggest that most of the respondents “show a strong preference to age in place.”

Would you like to stay in the same place and live out the remaining years of your life? Or perhaps you have yet to think about living arrangements in your golden years? Maybe your current home has too much space now that the children have flew the coop or you wish for the convenience of having amenities within walking distance? Then, you may be considering moving, but at the same time, staying close the community around you.

Ageing in place encompasses more than just the physical space and also includes the connection to one’s social and community network, friends and family.

Veteran journalist Bertha Henson, in a recent article she wrote, shared about her HDB neighbourhood, and likened ageing in place to being part of an extended family.

She wrote “when you age in place, you lead a life that is not just yours but also a bit of everybody else’s. It’s like being in an extended family, knowing which of your relatives got married or had a child who ‘entered’ university. In the case of the neighbourhood, the absence of a person who is a fixture in the neighbourhood would lead to questions like whether he or she had moved away, got sick, or worse, died”.

You can read the full article here.

While most of us may want to grow old in places that we are familiar with, we also wish to maintain a quality of life that we have been accustomed with or as close to it as possible. We have to consider if we are able to access social, healthcare and medical support that we need as we age, as well as if we have enough financial resources to cover what we need in retirement.

If you are still wondering about your retirement, you may want to attend our “Retirement – Are You Financially Ready” course to get a snapshot of where you stand financially in regards to your retirement. Click here to find out more.

Published on 29 September 2021