Ageing Asia did it again! More than 6,000 people gathered at Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre in Singapore to discuss the best ways of Ageing.
The event truly reflected the theme, “Age of Longevity – Living Healthier, Living Happier”, with so many discussions on different levels of care – governance, management, planning and clinical care, all set up to discuss the best ways to expand everyone’s Healthspan, providing the best ways to age well.
The event started with the presentations for the 13th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards. This year I was presenting HUR’s new mobile application, our solution that allows you to combine all gym and home best exercise in one, allowing for the monitoring of total exercise, as well as the easy access to all users on their own data.
The presentation of our product, “HUR mobile app – Your Complete Strength & Wellness Solution” leads the way to an active future for all, and was awarded the winner in the Physical Training and Innovation category at the Eldercare awards Gala held on the last night of the event. We are so proud to be part of a company that continuously thrives for improvement, using the advancements in technology to create functional solutions that respond to the demand.
The official opening was another example of the joy that active ageing brings with the performance of Singapore’s First Seniors Cheer Dancers. Ageing Asia supported three months of dance choreography classes for 60 seniors to launch the group, with the plan for the group to continue performing, creating opportunities for seniors to continue performing but also creating community initiatives.
In her opening speech Janice Chia was leading the way to healthy longevity, and stated:
“Ageing requires a mindset shift, enablement is the new black in eth business of ageing. The traditional notions of filial piety to look after and do things for seniors” is changing in Asia. The new philosophy of filial piety is about enabling older people to age as independently as possible, supporting them with the right products and services for ageing-in-place and creating opportunities to age with purpose”.
This powerful statement was a great start for a conference focusing on services that support independence and quality of life.
Throughout the event we had so many catch ups with old and new friends, to discuss the possibilities HUR offers for health and wellness. I was wonderful to hear the great stories from our clients all around the world – stories where people have refound independence via exercise, stories where communities create a culture of active ageing to all. There are so many solutions that support happiness, health and wellness to all, from community care to palliative dementia care.
It was also great to catch up with researchers. Nina Schaller, originally from the Technical University of Munich, published a wonderful article on exercise in retirement using HUR equipment. Nina has been recently working in Singapore with the National University of Singapore, Academy for Healthy Longevity, a fantastic research site that aims to transform the way we age providing a healthy future for all. Institutes like that are truly showing us what we should be doing. Thank you Nina for visiting us! You can find the original research paper here.
As always, we were privileged to be supported by the Finnish Government, with Finland’s ambassador, His Excellency Juha Markkanen, visiting at our booth. Innovation in Health Technology is a highly valued industry area and export globally. HUR is a great example of this with installations in five continents and 200 countries. In Singapore HUR is a valued partner supporting thousands of people, and even in Australia we have more than 300 installations.
The event is also an opportunity to share knowledge. This year I was part of a panel that was discussing “Rehabilitation for health longevity: Innovations in care delivery and system integration”, with a great panel consisting of Ada Cheng, Clayton Chua and Chew Weng Keong, moderated by Ng Rei Na. We had great discussions on the rehabilitation in not just treatment and recovery, but also the prevention of disease, whilst focusing on the extension of healthspan.
This positive panel shared experiences and research findings and visualised what healthy ageing looks like, what policies are needed to make it happen, and how culture and mindsets must change in organizations and healthcare workers. What a great group! I also got to share some visions on my favourite topics in another session – healthspan, active ageing, exercise as medicine, osteoporosis, sarcopenia and the true value of exercise making everyone’s life better!
This year’s key note speaker was Professor Wendy Suzuki, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Neural Science and Psychology New York University. Dr Wendy is a world-renowned neuroscientist and a celebrated international authority on neuroplasticity. Her amazing Ted Talk on the benefits of exercise to brain function has been viewed more than 10 million times, inspiring people far and wide. Listening to her is truly inspirational, motivating everyone to move! We all were excited to meet her in person and look forward to reading her new book.
The event is the best place for collaboration, this year important stapes were taken to make this official. During the event Ageing Asia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ageing Australia, ASLI (India) and also Yushoukai Medical Corporation (Japan). The purpose of these partnerships is to establish a collaborative framework that supports the collaboration, and the exchange of aged care knowledge, global insights, and innovation.
These partnerships reflect a mutual commitment to working together to identify opportunities for mutual learning and advancement in the aged care sector. Ageing Asia’s Janice Chia and Ageing Australia’s Tom Symondson have been supporting each other’s vison for years, it is wonderful to see this official partnership!
Ageing Asia Innovation Forum is always the place for knowledge, innovation, collaboration, passion and joy, a week to meet great minds and passionate professionals who all have a vision for the better future. This year’s edition was another great one, bigger and better – with the knowledge gained, we feel stronger that ever to move forward supporting everyone toward healthy longevity.
Thank you Janice, Sylwin, and everyone in your team for the work you do!
Best wishes,
Dr Tuire Karaharju-Huisman
Physiotherapist, Accredited Exercise Physiologist (ESSAM), PhD (Biomechanics)
Research Lead, Area Account Manager (Vic, Tas, SA, NT)
