He engaged a part-time nurse, and turned freelance so that he could have flexibility to look after them at home. In affluent communities like Singapore and Hong Kong, many middle-class families are employing foreign helpers to take on those responsibilities. But this cheap labor may not be available 10 years from now, observes Dr. Yap Keng Bee of the department of geriatric medicine in Singapore's Alexandra Hospital. Lower-income groups don't have that choice. Hence the ElderCare Fund in Singapore.
Some activists object to old-age homes as being contrary to Asian culture.
Dr. Kwok Ka-ki of the SAR's Action Group on Medical Policy calls for incentives such as allowances to encourage home care. But some seniors prefer to live apart because of lifestyle conflicts with their families. As it is, more and more people are choosing to shift into old-age homes, observes Dr. Shubha Soneja, an Indian geriatric psychologist. They don't want to take nonsense from their children any more. Beside providing company, modern homes offer seniors access to special amenities, for instance medical equipment, they would otherwise not have.