Title: The Feasibility of Implementing the WHO Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) Framework in Singapore
Summary: In order to promote healthy ageing, the World Health Organization’s Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) approach helps communities evaluate older adults’ intrinsic capacities and devise strategies to prevent or reverse declines. This study, the first of its kind in Singapore, aligns with the Healthier Singapore initiative to improve quality of life by exploring the feasibility of implementing ICOPE’s Step 1 screening in a local context. Using a mixed methods approach, this cross-sectional study assessed intrinsic capacity in 367 community-dwelling older adults (mean age 71.8 years) and gathered insights from 25 assessors on administering the screening tool and creating personalized care plans. Results showed that 284 participants had declines in intrinsic capacity, mainly in vision (42.0%), hearing (33.5%), cognition (31.3%), mobility (24.3%), nutrition (16.1%), and mental health (16.1%). Assessors found the tool was user-friendly and valued its person-centered approach and integration with care plans. They were confident in Singapore’s ability to adopt ICOPE, noting existing practices in assessing these domains and integrated care models. Successful implementation of ICOPE requires follow-up interventions, diagnostic assessments, routine monitoring, and coordination between healthcare clusters and community care networks.
Speaker Biography: Carol Ma is a leading expert in Service-Learning and Ageing in Asia, serving as Head & Associate Professor of Gerontology Programmes at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. She pioneered the service-learning curriculum in Hong Kong universities and successfully integrated it with the university’s curriculum, making it a valuable academic experience in higher education in Hong Kong and the region. In Singapore, Carol also spearheads curriculum development, community engagement, and applied research in gerontology, advocating for transdisciplinary education to address ageing issues. She has led impactful projects, including the first geragogy guidelines in Singapore, innovative dementia care programs, reminiscence facilitation programs, and older adults’ functional capacity under the WHO ICOPE framework, etc. She is an advisor for caregiver and eldercare services with the National Council of Social Services, a member of the Tote Board Community Health Fund (TBCHF) Evaluation Panel, an advisor for the International Longevity Centre Singapore. Internationally, she is an advisor of Inclusive learning for the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and an academic board member for the Uniservitate (A global network of Catholic Higher Education Institutions to promote service-learning) and technical expert for the WHO Clinical consortium on healthy ageing.
Participants may attend the seminar in-person at Room 102 in Michael Smith Laboratories at UBC, or virtually via Zoom:
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Zoom link: https://ubc.zoom.us/j/62722397155?pwd=aUyFS6o4eUeVouuCJWhpcmvfMwMKuk.1
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Meeting ID: 627 2239 7155
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Passcode: 184167
Please register here for the seminar.
