Informal caregiving for seniors costs $1.28b annually

Duke-NUS study is first here to estimate cost of time spent on such care amid rapid ageing

- Wong Man Shun

The cost of informal caregiving for seniors in Singapore comes up to $1.28 billion a year, a recent local study has found.

The Duke-NUS Medical School study, published in the Aging And Health Research journal in June, also found that caregivers provided on average 33 hours of care each week, helping seniors aged 75 and above communicate with others, managing their needs and providing emotional support.

The study is the first in Singapore to estimate the economic value of informal caregiving time in the context of Singapore's rapidly ageing population.

Its results showed that seniors received on average 60.5 hours of care each week from their primary and secondary caregivers.

Primary caregivers include adult children, spouses and other family members. Secondary caregivers most commonly comprise migrant domestic workers and the caregiver's siblings.

Duke-NUS Centre for Ageing Research & Education (Care) principal research scientist Abhijit Visaria said this niche in informal eldercare was chosen because such care, provided by family members and friends, is an integral aspect of the care provided to older adults here.

Researchers utilised data from Duke-NUS' Caregiving Transitions among Family Caregivers of Elderly Singaporeans study, which was conducted from 2019 to 2020.

Nearly 280 pairs of primary or main informal caregivers and recipients were surveyed for the study.

Primary caregivers reported the time spent by themselves and other caregivers in caring for their ward in the study.