Merger to scale up Singapore’s active ageing initiatives

The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) has announced that the Council for Third Age (C3A) will merge with the former from April 1, 2025, cementing AIC’s role as a one-stop hub for senior residents to access active ageing initiatives.

C3A was set up by the Singapore government in 2007, as a key partner to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in promoting active ageing through learning and volunteering opportunities.

AIC is the government agency that manages ageing-related services in Singapore.

It currently manages active ageing centers in the country, coordinates the delivery of aged care services across both health and social domains, and has an outreach arm for senior volunteers known as the Silver Generation Office.

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One-stop shop for all ageing services

“It would be more convenient for our partners and service providers to work with a single lead agency to expand their outreach to benefit more seniors in Singapore. This would be a significant step in our Age Well SG initiative,” said AIC’s CEO, Dinesh Vasu Dash, in an official statement.

Age Well SG is a national programme led by multiple agencies to support seniors in their journey to age well in their homes and communities.

The merger aims to strengthen AIC’s expertise to scale active ageing programmes in Singapore by tapping on C3A’s network of partners in both community and education institutions.

Seniors can also expect a greater variety of programmes at active ageing centres, while partners can achieve economies of scale to develop, implement and scale these programmes.

C3A’s Chairman, Kwok Wui San, added that the merger will also expand learning options for seniors, such as learning on digital platforms.

Last year, C3A launched a learning framework for training older adult learners known as the Singapore Standard 693 Geragogy Guidelines on Training Senior Learners (SS 693).

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Ramping up active ageing

Active ageing centres and senior volunteerism are among the key focus areas of the national programme, according to MOH’s press release.

Last November, the government announced that it will raise the number of active ageing centres from 157 to 220 by 2025. This means that 8 in 10 seniors will have a center near their homes.

As drop-in social recreational spaces for seniors, these centres align with Singapore’s plan to enable seniors to age in place – the ability of seniors to live in their own homes and community safely, independently and comfortably.

“Senior learning and volunteerism are important active ageing activities which can help Singaporeans to continue leading a meaningful life as we age,” said AIC’s Chairman, Dr Gerard Ee.

Recently in April, AIC’s Silver Generation Office launched another senior volunteering programme called Silver Guardian, which encourages senior volunteers to implement activities at these centres, such as befriending other seniors, organising and facilitating activities.

In 2018, C3A was listed as a case study by BCG’s Centre for Public Impact for its successful implementation of programmes around senior volunteerism, intergenerational learning, and social gerontology.