The senior dollar : growing old with healthcare costs.

• Main Authors: Siau, Ming En., Loi, Rachel Shu Yi., Boh, Samantha Su Huan.
• Other Authors: Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Journalism::News reporting and writing
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/52572
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Our project titled ‘The Senior Dollar: Growing old with healthcare costs’, like its name suggests, focuses on the various healthcare expenses borne by seniors in Singapore. It is not uncommon to hear Singaporeans lament that it is expensive to age in our city-state but the question is why and where exactly are these costs coming from. Hence we decided to dig deep into the lives of seniors to answer these questions. Through research and interviews with academics, eldercare service providers and seniors, we rediscovered seniors with different demographic characteristics often hidden beneath the umbrella term of “elderly”. Some are married and depending on their children for financial support, others single and self-sufficient. Higher healthcare expenses hit those with chronic diseases, while the healthy ones grow old having to fork out little money for healthcare. We also paid particular attention to the baby boomers, now aged between 49 and 66, with the first batch having just entered their golden years last year. These individuals represent a unique sandwiched class that is facing twin burdens – the expenses of their children and aged parents – on top of their own ageing costs. Thus in our project we made sure to feature seniors who come from various demographics, to illustrate that while we might all age physically, the ways in which we handle this physical deterioration are affected by factors such as affluence and education. We also wanted to go beyond just telling our readers about the issues that the ageing population is facing and provide them with information that would help them in their daily life. To do that we included a section which provides them with details of various subsidies available to seniors as well as a challenge-solution guide to the latest assistive devices for seniors being sold in Singapore.