The app was developed to tackle seniors’ low digital proficiency, reluctance towards smartphone education, and feelings of isolation. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE – Mondays and Tuesdays are dedicated to Zumba, and Wednesdays and Thursdays to pilates and resistance training.
This has been Madam Koh Puay Choo’s weekly routine at Lions Befrienders Active Ageing Centre @ Mei Ling in Queenstown for the last eight months.
She is nearly 70 years old.
Madam Koh is among 30 seniors from the active ageing centre who trialled a new mobile app in November which allows users to sign up for exercise, communal dining, gardening, music lessons and other activities at the active ageing centres.
She found the app useful and convenient. “Now I don’t have to walk 20 minutes to the centre just to sign up for my exercises,” she said in Mandarin.
On Dec 12, Lions Befrienders, a charity that serves seniors through befriending, active ageing centres and home care services, launched the Our Kampung app at the Lions Befrienders Active Ageing Centre @ Mei Ling.
Other than signing up for activities, the app also allows users to keep track of their health, interact with a pet avatar, and take up volunteer work.
The app was developed to tackle seniors’ low digital proficiency, reluctance towards smartphone education, and feelings of isolation.
Speaking at the launch event, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Social and Family Development Eric Chua said Singapore faces a gap between long life expectancies of over 80 years and healthspans – the years lived in good health – which are 10 years shorter.
He said the app comes in handy to help seniors stay socially engaged, which is “a huge determinant of good health” for older adults.
Lions Befrienders executive director Karen Wee said the app is an extension of the charity’s i-ok @ LB system in 2021, which gives seniors an electronic tablet to press a button signalling that they are fine, so that staff can check on them if they are not.
Lions Befrienders serves more than 13,000 seniors and operates 10 active ageing centres.
The plan is to roll out the app with its full suite of services to 10,000 of these seniors from all 10 centres in the next two to three years. The free app is available in all four official languages.
The project’s sponsors include Singapore Pools and port operator PSA.
The app was developed by Lion Befrienders’ technology and innovation tea, together with development studio WeesWares, which charged the charity a discounted rate.
The app is designed for seniors who suffer from visual impairments, motor coordination problems and memory deterioration, with intuitive touchscreen navigations, audio messaging and large font sizes.
AI, technology being used to help seniors tell their life stories, keep active
Lions Befrienders' new customised tablet could serve as a senior's best friend
Our Kampung also keeps Lions Befrienders’ staff updated about the seniors’ well-being, such as their blood pressure and heart rate taken at the centres’ health measurement stations.
It also has a pet avatar game, where our seniors can interact with a pet cat or dog to collect points to redeem prizes at Lions Befrienders’ smart locker initiative.
Madam Koh tends to her pet avatar cat, playing with it and bathing it whenever she is bored. “It keeps my mind active. It’s better than staring at the four walls when I have nothing to do,” she said.
The next phase of app development will allow seniors to take on “microjobs” through the app, such as planning events and putting up handicrafts for sale on the Lions Befrienders’ upcoming e-shop. These jobs are broken down to have four or five seniors doing the job of one person, and pays seniors an allowance.
Ms Wee cited a scheme by Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities that recruits seniors to take on simple tasks like delivering meals and medication reminders to other seniors, and be paid a small allowance of $1 for each task.
Mr Chua said the app represents a social service agency, Lions Befrienders, coming together to work with corporates, Singapore Pools, PSA, and also volunteers.
“That is how we ought to work together to make sure that in the next lap of Singapore, we can make Singapore work for all of us,” he added.
Teach seniors right to reap ‘longevity dividend’ from Singapore’s ageing population: Panel
Social network key to happiness of seniors with no kids: S'pore study
Senior Activity Centre
Senior citizens
Ageing
Charities