Singapore, April 30, 2020 – During this Circuit Breaker period, senior citizens confined in their homes may feel more isolated and lonely; and their caregivers may need more ideas to keep them occupied and healthy.
Understanding this need, Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS), the People’s Association (PA) and Sport Singapore (SportSG) has, for the first time, organised a webinar series from now until 8 May 2020 to engage and support our elderly and their caregivers during this challenging period. The webinar includes wellness workshops, exercise classes and talkshows that seniors and their caregivers may enjoy from the comfort of their homes. The first three sessions from 27 - 29 April were very well-received.
SUSS President, Professor Cheong Hee Kiat said, “We understand how mentally and physically challenging it is for the elderly and their caregivers to be confined at home, especially during this period. As an advocate for active ageing and intergenerational bonding, SUSS hopes this initiative will facilitate our senior citizens and their caregivers to stay well and connected with their families and friends. We are delighted that our SUSS faculty members, students and alumni are contributing back to the society through organising these talks, in alignment with our University’s social focus and lifelong learning approach.”
SUSS Head of Gerontology Programme, Associate Professor Carol Ma said, “There is an increasing trend of seniors living alone in Singapore. Due to tighter safe distancing measures, this results in reduced social interaction, and may lead to chronic loneliness. Through this webinar series, SUSS aims to promote health and wellness for this group of audience, and also hopefully cheer them up.”
PA sees this as a good opportunity to partner SUSS and SportSG in this webinar series during the circuit breaker period, to continue supporting the elderly so that they can stay engaged.
Mr Kia Siang Wei, Director Lifeskills & Lifestyle, People’s Association, said “We are glad to partner SUSS and SportSG in this meaningful initiative to reach out to the seniors. This series of webinars further complement our overall efforts to engage residents through the various online and social media platforms, and to take care of their mental and physical wellness even as they stay at home during this Circuit Breaker period.”
It is also crucial to ensure that our elderly remains active and fit during this Circuit Breaker period. Through simple and progressive changes to habits, Active Health aims to help the elderly live better and stay happy at home. For those who have missed out on the webinar sessions, they may continue to stay active with Sport Singapores’s senior-centric exercise videos at ActiveSG Masters Club (on Youtube) or tune in to GetActive TV’s GetActive! First Light at 0730hrs, Monday to Friday.
Explaining the importance of delivering Active Health to Singaporeans, Chief ActiveSG, Mr Sng Hock Lin said, “This is a great initiative to partner SUSS in this webinar series to co-create content to keep our seniors engaged, healthy and active from the comfort of their homes. Our Active Health coaches are here to help the elderly exercise better, eat better, sleep better and be happier during these unprecedented times.”
By 2030, the Department of Statistics estimates that 83,000 aged 65 years old and above will be living alone as compared to 47,000 seniors in 2016, highlighting a greater need to do more for this vulnerable group of people.
This webinar series, comprising 10 talks, will be conducted by SUSS’s community of gerontology faculty members, alumni, students, and partners.
List of 10 talks
Topic | Proposed Date & Time | Summary | Speakers and host |
Mental Wellness Talk – Uplifting Talk on Happiness & Positivity | 27 April, Mon (4pm-5pm) | Living Life to the Fullest in Your Silver Years Join us for this Mental Wellness Talk and discover the secret to happiness in your silver days! | Speaker: Juliana Johan (Co-Founder of The Affirmative People and Gerontology Alumnus, Singapore University of Social Sciences) Host: A/P Carol Ma Hok Ka (Head of Gerontology Programme, SUSS) |
Fitness workout by SportSG | 28 April, Tue (4-5pm) | Breaking the Circuit with Active Health Get active with us and learn some habits you can adopt to be Physically Active even at home! | Active Health Coaches: - Christabelle Ho - Shannon Chia |
Technology to improve engagement with family and friends: FaceTime, Zoom, Skype, Facebook, etc, which covers security aspect of each | 29 April, Wed (4-5pm) | Discovering the World Virtually with Your Family and Friends Ever wonder how you can use virtual tools to engage your family and friends? Join us and have fun at this session, as we learn together through this virtual world. | Speaker: Jonathan Foo, Principal Investigator, Extended Reality (XR) Media Lab, Virtual Reality partner/trainer of Gerontology Programme, SUSS Host: Kelvin Tan (Gerontology Alumnus and Associate Faculty, SUSS) |
Fitness workout by SportSG | 30 April, Thurs (4-5pm) | Breaking the Circuit with Active Health Get active with us and learn some habits you can adopt to Eat Better even at home! | Active Health Coaches: - Christabelle Ho - Shannon Chia |
Nutrition Talk | 1 May, Fri (4-5pm) | Transform Your Health with Nutrition Did you know that you can reverse chronic illnesses such as arthritis, high cholesterol, diabetes and high blood pressure? The answer lies in nutrition! Tune in to find out more! | Speaker:Dean Ng (Co-Founder of The Affirmative People and Gerontology Alumnus, SUSS) Host: Anita Ho, Gerontology Alumnus & Associate Faculty, SUSS |
Fitness workout by SportSG | 4 May, Mon (4-5pm) | Breaking the Circuit with Active Health Get active with us and learn some habits you can adopt to Sleep Better during this stressful season! | Active Health Coaches: - Christabelle Ho - Shannon Chia |
Talkshow by senior role models (sharing of experience on how they have been coping throughout the CB period) | 5 May, Tues (4-5pm) | Sharing of experience on how to cope with the circuit breaker Mindset change: Control what we can control, manage what we can’t perspective change: We seniors are vintage wine not expired milk. Contributing mode: we are sunshine seniors. How can we bring sunshine to everyone, the community and the world? Future mode: Do we seniors have a future? Definitely. Certainly. | Speakers & Host: Ricky FM Law, Founder of Nation for Future Seniors and Sunshine Senior; Community partner of SUSS’s Gerontology Programme Kalyani Mehta, Professor for Gerontology and Social Work, SUSS |
Fitness workout by SportSG | 6 May, Wed (4-5pm) | Breaking the Circuit with Active Health Get active with us and learn some habits you can adopt to reduce your Screen Time while being stuck at home! | Active Health Coaches: - Christabelle Ho - Shannon Chia |
Health & Wellness Talk | 7 May, Thurs (4-5pm) | How can I be healthy and happy when I grow old? Can my loved ones age well? What is positive about ageing? What are the practical steps? In this session, Isaiah shall attempt to answer these questions that thousands of seniors think about in this short webinar. Be inspired, engaged and walk away ready to start your journey towards longer and healthier lives. | Speaker: Isaiah Chong, Founder & Director of Proage, award winning social entrepreneur, international speaker and clinical exercise physiologist. Community partner of SUSS’s Gerontology Programme Host: Sally Ting, Senior occupational therapist; Alumus of Gerontology Programme, SUSS |
Mental Wellness Talk - Uplifting Talk on Happiness & Positivity | 8 May, Fri (4-5pm) | Intergenerational dialogues to build happiness and positivity We need to support each other during the circuit breaker. What and how can we make ourselves happy and be positive within a family? A sharing of how a daughter and father partnership in maintaining a family, building a social enterprise and serving the nation in this critical moment. | Speakers: Thomas Kuan Founder, U 3rd Age (University of Third Age) Singapore Treasurer, PIMA (PASCAL International Member Association) Certified Pingshuai (‘Level-arm’) Qigong Instructor Carol Kuan Co-Founder and MD, U 3rd Age (University of Third Age), Singapore Technical Editor of PIMA eBulletin, U3A Signpost and Asiapost. Host: Yvonne Kong, PhD student (Gerontology) & Alice Lim Scholar, SUSS |
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About the Singapore University of Social Sciences
SUSS is a university with a rich heritage in providing lifelong, learner-centric and industry-relevant education. Our mission is to champion lifelong education to develop future thinkers and leaders to their fullest potential through our 3H’s education philosophy – ‘Head’ for professional competency with applied knowledge, ‘Heart’ for social awareness of the needs of the society, and ‘Habit’ for passion towards lifelong learning.
We offer more than 70 undergraduate and graduate programmes, available in full- and part-time study modes which are flexible, modular and multi-faceted in learning experience to cater to both fresh school leavers and adult learners. We also launched a broad range of continuing education and training modular courses for the professional skills and knowledge upgrading of our workforce.
Our programmes and courses are made available through our five schools:
- S R Nathan School of Human Development
- School of Business
- School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences
- School of Law
- School of Science and Technology
To date, over 30,000 graduates have chosen SUSS as their university of choice. Each year, about 15,000 students are pursuing their full- and part-time studies with us.
From 1 April 2019, the Institute for Adult Learning (IAL) became an autonomous institute of SUSS. Both entities enable a synergistic collaboration as IAL brings to SUSS its expertise and experience in adult learning and Continuing Education and Training (CET), while SUSS provides an ecosystem of resources and experts rooted in academic rigour.
For more information on SUSS, please visit www.suss.edu.sg.
About People’s Association
The People’s Association (PA) is a statutory board established on 1 July 1960 to promote racial harmony and social cohesion, and to act as a bridge between the Government and the people. We offer a wide range of community programmes and volunteering opportunities for Singaporeans from all walks of life. Our network includes more than 1,800 grassroots organisations (GROs), over 100 Community Clubs, five Community Development Councils, National Community Leadership Institute and Water-Venture. More information at www.pa.gov.sg.
About Sport Singapore
As the national sports agency, Sport Singapore’s core purpose is to inspire the Singapore spirit and transform Singapore through sport. Through innovative, fun and meaningful sporting experiences, our mission is to reach out and serve communities across Singapore with passion and pride. With Vision 2030 – Singapore’s sports master plan, our mandate goes beyond winning medals. Sport Singapore uses sport to create greater sporting opportunities and access, more inclusivity and integration as well as broader development of capabilities. At Sport Singapore, we work with a vast network of public-private-people sector partners for individuals to live better through sport.
To find out more, visit our websites and www.myactivesg.com.