Aging Population and Its Implications on Nursing and Healthcare in Singapore

Running head: AGING POPULATION 1
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Aging Population
Students Name
Institution Affiliation

AGING POPULATION 2
Aging population
Globally, the aging population in the world has increased attributed to different health-
related factors. In Singapore, the increase in the aging population is attributed to improved
healthcare services and socio-care needs. Demographic structures and transition, including
decreasing birth and mortality rates leading to longer life expectancy, enabling the majority of
the population to be over 65 years, has piled pressure on the aging population to be engaged in
almost every activity (Peters, 2010). Such changes in the society are created by political,
economic, and social issues which may hamper the sustainability welfare of the state by raising
the retirement age. The increased aging population in Singapore has significant implications for
nursing and healthcare, which necessitates the need to raise awareness. This essay will discuss
the importance of raising awareness, the influence of the aging population on nursing
knowledge, and also how to overcome any challenges emanating from the increasing aging
population.
According to the world health organization (WHO), the world population is anticipated
to be around 50 billion by the year 2050 (Esser & Ward, 2013). This attributed to the rapid
growth of the people across continents. Singapore is among the countries with the highest life
expectancies and lowest fertility rates in the world, with the older workforce making
employment rate to surge over the past decade. In the last decade, the population of older people
has been higher than the young people with an increased rate of 5% of residents (65 years and
above) in 10 years (Hamerman, D., 2016). It is vital to create awareness about the aging
population to reduce inequality differences in health status in the country (Kharicha et al., 2014).
An aging population requires more care compared to the general younger population; hence, it is

AGING POPULATION 3
essential to raise awareness on the increase of the aging population to put in place policies that
help promote their health and wellbeing.
In some parts of the country, people do not have direct access to health services,
especially the poor aged people, and therefore through awareness creation, the government will
be able to develop policies needed to focus on expanding the provision of healthcare to particular
groups that are excluded or marginalized (Pallin et al.,2013). Being fair in health services
provision is beneficial to a country. Enlightening community awareness has been established by
programs combining public education campaigns and training to ensure that every individual
gets access to healthcare services.
As the population grows old, so does the implications in both the nursing and healthcare
sector. In the recent study, it found that older adults have specific health needs like maximum
attention, which is probable and can anticipate when someone is above 60 years (Willison &
Andrews, 2014). Old age people need home-based care as their physical body may be vulnerable
to handle tasks associated with the patient movements. The elderly require help in, diet, and meal
planning and preparation, simple physical therapy training, doing blood-pressure tests, managing
their injections, and many more, which require person-centered care (Willison & Andrews,
2014). With an increase in human lifespan, chronic illness prevalence also increases; about 70%
of older adults have at least two chronic diseases. The nurses need to put in place measures that
will promote the health and wellbeing of this aging population (Willison & Andrews, 2014). An
awareness of potential behavior changes, which involves, medical attention, regular checkups,
and strategies for dealing with the emerging chronic disorder, is of importance to the nurses in
promoting the health of the aging population.