In his latest blog post, Mr Gan said MOH will work closely with partners in the sector to improve the quality of care for Singapore's greying population.
Mr Gan said Singapore needs to be ready to provide holistic, accessible and quality care for a larger senior population in the years to come.
He said the scope of aged care includes looking after the social and emotional needs of senior citizens, apart from functional or health related issues.
That's why a key focus of the Ministerial Committee on Ageing, is to expand the scope of intermediate and long-term care to facilitate ageing-in-place.
Mr Gan said there are plans to expand and enhance home-based care to better support caregivers to care for their loved ones within their homes, rather than in an institution.
More day care centres will be built in the heartlands to offer integrated services for seniors who are functional and healthy, as well as those with medical needs.
These centres not only provide a place for seniors to socialise, but also access services such as nursing, rehabilitative services and dementia management programmes.
One example is the Touch Home Care centre which recently opened in Jurong.
A team of nurses and occupational therapists are stationed at a satellite centre in a void deck to deliver home-based nursing care to bedridden patients in the west.
Another centre at Bedok, operated by the Salvation Army, provides day care services as well as day dementia, day rehabilitative services and nursing care for seniors living in the nearby HDB blocks, while their caregivers go to work.
Mr Gan said demand for the Bedok Multi Service Centre's services is overwhelming, but he has suggested that they consider using the centre as a platform to stage services to their clients at their homes, instead of expanding their Bedok centre to cater to the demand.
He added that the government will continue to invest in building more of such centres in the community, and work with aged care providers on manpower and financing initiatives.
This, he said, will make home and community-based care a more viable option for Singaporeans.
MOH will also study how to enhance the care for those who are discharged from hospitals, in their homes, in the immediate few months after they are discharged.
This would allow caregivers to better cope with the transition and pre-empt potential re-admissions into hospitals.
The government is also building more nursing homes to provide institutional care for those who need it.
Mr Gan said it is projected that Singapore needs up to 15,600 nursing home beds by 2020.
Currently, there are some 9,000 nursing home beds, with another 1,800 beds in the pipeline.
MOH will study how rehabilitative services within new nursing homes can also cater to other seniors living in the neighbourhood, and provide respite care options for caregivers as well.
- CNA/cc
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