‘Transport a key focus’: Singapore’s eldercare agency deepens partnership with public transport operator to create dementia-friendly environments

Nineteen-year-old caregiver William Koh spends time with his 60-year-old mother, who was diagnosed with dementia two years ago, by taking outdoor walks. She hooks onto her son’s arm – only using a walking stick sometimes but inconsistently – and handrails in public spaces for support.  

However, she requires frequent walking breaks every ten minutes and could use more available seats in the MRT stations to take a rest. 

On Saturday, 6 January, at the National Museum of Singapore, AIC and SMRT signed an MoU to ramp up dementia-friendly initiatives in SMRT train and bus networks. The agreement covers five focus areas comprising public advocacy, employee training, service delivery, age- and dementia-friendly environmental designs, as well as corporate volunteerism. 

Both organisations will also explore other initiatives to make public transport systems more inclusive for other mental health conditions and caregivers. 

GovInsider speaks to a caregiver, the AIC, and SMRT to explore how the slew of initiatives targeting both the built and social environment aim to contribute to the well-being of persons living with dementia (PWDs) and their caregivers.  

Transport key to creating dementia-friendly public spaces 

“Transport is a key focus area that affects the daily lives and activities of persons living with dementia.  Helping them to travel safely and giving peace of mind to the caregivers is important,” Yen Theng See, Chief of Caregiving and Community Mental Health Division, AIC, tells the media.

See adds that AIC is partnering with other transport operators, and these collaborations cover physical infrastructure upgrading, efficacy of business processes and staff training. 

AIC and SMRT’s partnership started in 2017.  

Since then, SMRT has installed Kindness Seats in at least 45 SMRT train stations, carved out dementia go-to points (GTPs) in all 98 train stations, and trained more than 3,000 frontline staff to help PWDs travel through the public transportation network. 

Kindness Seats are designed to be brightly colored to make it more visible and safer for seniors, while GTPs are touchpoints within the community where members of the public can take PWDs who appear lost to get help. 

The public transport operator is looking to install dementia GTPs in another 11 MRT stations along the new Thomson-East Coast Line by March 2024. 

Aside from transport, AIC is collaborating with partners in four other key sectors, like banking and finance, arts and leisure, retail, and building. 

The Straits Times reported in 2022 that at least 1,000 staff from the two major supermarket chains – FairPrice and Sheng Siong – had undergone dementia awareness training conducted by AIC, and more than 200 outlets had been designated as dementia GTPs. 

See shared that the training has also been expanded to banking officers so that they can learn how to respond when they encounter customers with dementia. 

SMRT’s experience working with PWDs on the ground 

Speaking to GovInsider, Nur Shareeza Binte Abdullah, Senior Assistant Station Manager, SMRT, points out that the most common situation she encounters is when PWDs get lost. 

Staff usually get linked up with PWDs when fellow commuters take them to the passenger service counter, or when they are spotted by the staff patrolling the station or the train.  

“We are trained to empathise with the commuters with dementia and then assist them along the way. We just have to be patient to listen to them. 

“So far from my experience, they’re quite cooperative. Even though it takes them awhile to answer our questions, we manage to talk to them,” she explains regarding her staff training.  

The standard protocol being to bring them to a WeCare room to calm them down, and then contacting their caregivers by identifying their contact information through the physical CARA card, which is given to all PWDs to help with their safe return.

WeCare rooms are quiet and comfortable spaces in MRT stations and bus interchanges that are open to commuters in distress to calm down and rest.  

Focus on youth involvement 

The MoU signing was accompanied by other initiatives launched by AIC to encourage intergenerational engagement in dementia and aged care, and raise public awareness around managing PWDs in the community. 

AIC has launched two publications to help anybody who wishes to interact with PWDs.  

The first is an intergenerational toolkit that helps schools and organisations to start programmes that foster bonding between youths and seniors, and the second is a journal to guide youths to have conversations with their grandparents.  

Speaking at the launch, caregiver Koh and Soh Ke Wei, team lead for the Project Forget-Me-Not, a youth-led initiative to raise awareness of dementia among the young, recounted the sense of loss they felt when they found out that their loved ones were diagnosed with dementia. 

“I just remember feeling this acute and visceral sense of helplessness because I just didn’t know much about the condition and what I could do to help him,” says Soh, whose grandmother suffers from dementia. 

“At 17 years old, your biggest goal is to do well in school and go to university. At that moment [I found out mom’s diagnosis], I just wanted to be a good caregiver, which I had no idea how to do so. How do I change a diaper? How do I make sure mom was healthy? I had to learn these things along the way as a caregiver.” Koh adds. 

Whole-of-society approach in tackling dementia 

As part of this year’s #DementiaFriendlySG movement, the national initiative to address dementia prevalence, the launch also saw the opening of a new exhibition, titled “Facing Dementia in Singapore,” by President Tharman Shanmugaratnam. 

The movement was first announced in 2016 by the Ministry of Health as a pilot community health project, and later jointly launched by MOH and AIC in November 2022 as part of a national roll-out.  

“We’re now focusing on getting more people onboard to build this whole-of-society inclusive environment. This time round, there is a focus on youth – to bring them into this whole discussion about whether it is too early or late to get them involved,” says AIC’s See. 

"We realised the impact of the family unit on the fabric of our society. Grandchildren are maybe the first ones to notice that their grandparents behave a little differently. They could be equipped with the knowledge to highlight something wrong, and understand what they can do about it.  

“There is so much more youths can contribute in terms of building a dementia-friendly environment if given the right educational resources and networks.”