Australia is exporting its expertise in seniors’ living around Asia, but there are also lessons to learn from our neighbours, says Shalain Singh, head of healthcare and retirement living at Colliers International for Asia Pacific.
According to the World Health Organisation, population ageing is “without parallel in human history” and the 21st century will “witness even more rapid ageing than did the century just past”.
This means higher spending on healthcare, retirement funds stretching further than ever before, and a complete reimagining of what it means to participate in the community as we age.
Singh says Asia is facing a seniors’ living crisis. Many countries have rapidly-ageing populations, but traditional care networks are dissolving as urbanisation breaks down family units, and as people work longer hours.
By 2050, China will have more citizens aged 50 and older than the total population of the United States. In a country where more than 450 million people are expected to be 65 years and older by 2050, the one child policy has created the “4-2-1” challenge: one child responsible for the care of up to six adults.
“China’s retirement living market is growing very quickly, and in some cities you might say it’s mature, but in general it’s just ‘old people living in houses’, rather than integrated seniors’ living services at this stage,” Singh explains.
In Japan, one of the world’s oldest societies, an estimated one third of the population will be older than 65 by 2050. While Japan has been dealing with its ageing population for decades longer than Australia, and is “further advanced” in some areas, “Japan doesn’t provide retirement living solutions the way we understand it, or indeed the consumer now wants”.
For example, Japan’s government is encouraging Tokyo’s seniors to relocate to continuing care retirement communities, or CCRCs, outside the capital city. These villages provide easy access to medical and social welfare services, and wide range of activities that allow older people to integrate into the community.
Meanwhile, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are emerging “retirement hubs” for Europeans and Americans “concerned about the cost value equation” of retirement living in their own countries Singh points out.
For example, Jin Wellbeing County, a ‘medical city’ on the outskirts of Bangkok, is attracting foreigners with its temperate climate, low living and health costs and culture of service. The first 500 housing units are being marketed at AUD$180,000 plus around $530 a month for meals and services.
Experience economy hits retirement living
The quality of care in all these markets is “rapidly improving”, as seniors’ living providers across Asia embrace technology and integrated healthcare solutions, Singh explains.
Australia can learn much from the application of technology in these markets. In some cases, we are still “significantly behind even under-developed countries”.
Colliers has recently been working with a retirement living development in Malaysia, in which every resident wears an RFID-enabled bracelet that not only provides access to services – locking and unlocking doors without the need for keys, for example – but tracks heart rate, blood pressure, activity levels and more.
“The bracelet reminds residents of when to take their medication, and monitors movement, reducing the reliance on physical inspections, creating a less intrusive and more intuitive care program,” Singh explains.
The bracelet also acts as an “all encompassing payment system” which eliminates the pain points for residents accessing and paying for extra services, like hairdressers or pharmaceuticals.
“There’s a big apprehension in Australia that this technology is expensive, but it’s just not the case anymore. There might have been a big capital expenditure involved three-to-five years ago, but it’s evolved quickly,” he says.
Inspiration from integration
Australia can also learn from Asia’s approach to service integration, Singh adds.
Our current healthcare system, with countless stand-alone day surgeries and suburban general practices is “highly inefficient” and doesn’t deliver the customer service that Australians increasingly demand.
Health precincts in Asia “strip out the inefficiencies, digitise services and offer people a consultation, diagnosis and treatment plan on the same day”.
Both of these examples – technology and integrated services – emphasise evolving customer expectations, and Singh urges Australia’s retirement living industry to “look to the retail sector to understand how to show your customer value”.
“The retirement living industry needs to shift to a retail consumer mindset, rather than thinking that an ageing demographic will drive demand and that people will have no other option.”
Join Shalain Singh and other industry leaders at the National Retirement Living Summit in Canberra from 28-30 November. A limited number of tickets are still available.