Elder Friendly Housing Structure Will Begin In February 2011
The occupational therapist or therapists who will be working hand in hand with the Housing Board estate in Singapore will surely be compensated with a good amount of money once they start designing ergonomic houses for elderly folks next year. Though the occupational therapist salary for the said projected has not been disclosed it’s already a given fact that it will be a generous amount. The Marine Parade was the chosen spot to build the elderly friendly public housing since the area reflects the most number of elderly folks in Singapore. The people who are responsible for the said project claims that there will be no major changes in the housing structure and design but a little re-modeling will be present.
The focus of the project is to provide the adult population a more convenient house that will not hinder them to do certain chores at the same time will keep them safe as much as possible. For a house that will have people above sixty-years old, it’s really much better to have lower stairs or none at all. The lavatory should be reachable as well as the cupboards for easy access. The flooring of the house especially the bathroom shouldn’t be slippery to avoid possible slips and accident. The mentioned specifications will be considered by the Housing Board Estate if it will improve the elders’ lives. Occupational therapist who will be assigned in this project will be expected to come up with different proposals and designs for the flats and the best design will be the one applied to most flats. The occupational therapist salary however will not be determined by the number of home modification proposal that has been provided. Nobody also knows if the occupational therapist salary will be based on the approved designs given. Everything about the budget and cost of the project will all be up to Mr. Lim Boon Heng, Minister in-Charge of ageing issues and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.
The project is said to take five years to be finalized and take place. Mr. Lim also stated that the pilot housing project will have three phases and the first phase will start on February 2011. The first phase will include focus group discussions and surveys among the elderly. Audits and budgeting of the project cost will also take place on the first phase. Mr. Lim stated that the first phase will have an allotted budget of $500,000. No declared budget was given for the second and third phase however the second phase is expected to end by 2016.