\n<\/p>\n
NUHS also\u00a0provides personalised nutrition counselling for seniors with frailty, chronic disease or malnutrition, apart from conducting community roadshows and health talks to educate older adults, Ms Wong said.<\/p>\n
The healthcare provider has developed multilingual education resources and practical guides, ensuring that caregivers\u00a0are equipped\u00a0to prepare healthy meals.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Ministry of Health launched EatWise SG, guiding healthcare workers so that they may deliver better diet recommendations to help prevent and manage chronic diseases and malnutrition. This initiative allows primary care providers to identify at-risk patients and provide them with dietary help.<\/p>\n
All three public healthcare groups that spoke to CNA TODAY \u2013 SingHealth, NUHS and NHG Health \u2013 are part of the\u00a0EatWise SG initiative. NHG Health alone has trained more than 500 community providers.<\/p>\n
However, health experts\u00a0said that more could be done.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Low Lian Leng, director of SingHealth’s Centre for Population Health Research and Implementation, said: “If we want seniors to age in place, they must be able to eat well in place.”<\/p>\n
He noted that seniors do not just need advice on healthy diets, but also “accessible food, oral care, practical meal solutions, social support and early identification of risk”.<\/p>\n
The location of these amenities is crucial, Assoc Prof Low said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Referring to an ongoing study by his organisation,\u00a0he said it found\u00a0that older adults favoured nearby amenities for daily essentials to be about 120m away from home. That is equivalent to a two-minute walk.<\/p>\n
“At the furthest extent, older adults are willing to travel up to\u00a01,191m (about 1.2km) \u2013 which is around a 20-minute walk \u2013 to reach central hubs with diverse amenities, driven by the need to access services or items unavailable in their immediate neighbourhood,” he added.<\/p>\n
Ms Tong of SingHealth said that Singapore can take a page from other countries in addressing malnutrition among the older population.<\/p>\n
Meals on Wheels Australia, for example, is an association that offers nutrition screening and social connection \u2013 a service that could be introduced here,\u00a0she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Japan, community volunteer training helps volunteers identify early warning signs of malnutrition.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n