Total: 405 good practice(s). Download
Movement Singapore offers weekly parkour classes for persons aged 50 to 70, encouraging them to embrace a sense of adventure while staying active. Each session combines stretching, conditioning exercises and obstacle-based training. Participants also learn how to fall safely by tucking the chin towards the chest. This adjustment can help reduce the risk of more serious injuries in the event of a fall. Through regular participation, older persons will experience a range of benefits, including increased muscle and bone strength, improved agility and balance, fall-prevention skills, greater vitality and increased confidence in their everyday movements.
People aged 50 years or over interested in staying active through a multitude of sports beyond sports traditionally dedicated to older persons.
Shie Boon, the founder of Movement Singapore, started the initiative with the aim to prevent falls among older persons. There are weekly outdoor parkour classes across four locations in Singapore.
Thinking "outside the box", providing a sport to older persons which is usually associated with youth culture.
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Singapore is helping its older citizens age well by teaching them parkour - Monocle
The programme has expanded older persons' access to affordable public transport, community programmes and recreational activities through a single integrated membership card. By combining transport concessions with community participation opportunities and lifestyle benefits, it has supported greater social participation and mobility among older persons while encouraging active ageing.
Singapore citizens aged 60 years and above.
The programme was developed by the People's Association to encourage active ageing and strengthen community participation among older persons. It integrates transport concessions, community programmes and lifestyle benefits into a single membership platform through collaboration with government agencies and participating merchants. Eligible seniors can apply for the card through the Passion Card system, enabling convenient access to subsidized active living.
The Passion Silver Concession Card demonstrates how an integrated membership platform can promote active ageing by combining mobility support, community participation and everyday benefits. Its cross-sector partnership model strengthens social inclusion, encourages lifelong participation in community life and provides a practical, scalable approach that can be adapted by other ageing societies.
The book provides guidelines for creating a care space from a mutual care perspective. Rather than focusing on one-sided care from caregivers to recipients, it focuses on a mutual approach. Using the concept of pattern language, the project offers caregivers practical guidelines for interacting more effectively with the elderly. For instance, it addresses how to listen to the intentions of care recipients, involve them in daily life, and shape a supportive environment.
This is designed for those who provide in-home care, especially for the elderly with dementia, and also for those who wish to create a warm place for their grandparents.
The guidelines provide evidence-based, actionable advice for caregivers of the elderly. The positive impact of these guidelines has been acknowledged in Japan and has also received media attention.
Keio University originally launched a researchproject to apply the concept of "pattern language" from architectural theory to daily life with people with dementia.The project was tested in a practical context to verify its effectiveness. These outcomes have been disseminated through the publication of books and card collections under the title Words to Live Together.
Words for Journey: A Pattern language for living with dementia
The Penal Code and the Vulnerable Adults Act, amended in 2019, was implemented by Singaporean national and local Governments. This act aims to protect vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect or self-neglect and to provide timely and effective interventions. This act is guided by five principles, including: exercising the Act must be for protection of adults from abuse, nelgect or self-neglect; adults with mental capacity can decide how they would like to live; implementation of the act should be as least restrictive of a persosn rights; and the welfare of the peson should be of paramount importance.
All adults aged 18 and above who, due to mental or physical infirmity, disability, or incapacity, are unable to protect themselves from abuse, neglect, or self-neglect.
The Act provided mechanisms for state intervention such as investigations, entry into premises, temporary placement, and court protection orders. It strengthened Singapore’s safety net for vulnerable adults, filling protection gaps where families or communities could not intervene, and enhanced safeguarding efficiency.
The Act was developed after public and professional consultations, first read in Parliament in March 2018, passed in May, and implemented in December. Led by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), it defined “vulnerable adults,” set out intervention and court procedures, and emphasized least-restrictive intervention, prioritizing best interests and autonomy.
It balances family-and community-based care with state intervention, while safeguarding autonomy through least-restrictive, best-interest principles.
Japan's public pension system includes measures to protect future pension entitlements during periods of child-rearing, helping to reduce the long-term pension impact of caregiving responsibilities, which are often borne by women. Employees who take childcare leave are exempt from paying Employees' Pension Insurance contributions during leave, while the period continues to be treated as if contributions had been paid. In addition, workers raising children under age three may retain a higher pension calculation base if their earnings decline because of reduced working hours or other childcare-related adjustments. These measures support work-family reconciliation and help prevent pension losses associated with caregiving.
The measures ensure that parents, particularly women, do not experience reduced pension rights solely because they take childcare leave or temporarily reduce working hours to care for young children. During childcare leave, pension coverage is maintained despite contribution exemptions, and future benefits are not reduced for the exempted period. In addition, eligible workers may have future pension benefits calculated using pre-childcare earnings even when childcare responsibilities temporarily lower their wages. These mechanisms help mitigate one source of gender disparities in pension outcomes.
The measures were developed as part of broader efforts to support families, promote gender equality and address declining fertility. Under the public pension system, parents taking childcare leave are exempt from pension contributions, but those periods are treated as contribution-paid periods for benefit calculations. To address income reductions associated with childcare, Japan also introduced a special pension calculation rule that allows pension benefits to be calculated on the basis of pre-childcare earnings when remuneration declines while raising a child under three years of age. Employers submit applications through the Japan Pension Service.
The practice helps address a common source of pension inequality by protecting pension entitlements during periods devoted to raising children. Rather than requiring parents to choose between caregiving and future retirement security, the system recognizes childcare as a socially valuable activity and reduces the pension penalties associated with work interruptions or reduced earnings. The approach supports labour force participation, gender equality and income security in later life. By integrating childcare-related protections into the mainstream pension system, Japan provides long-term support through an established and sustainable mechanism.
Employees' Pension Insurance Act (English translation). Japanese Law Translation Database System
Japan Pension Service guidance on childcare leave contribution exemptions (referenced through pension administration guidance).
Japan Pension Service (JPS)
The Personal Alert Button (PAB) is a government-developed emergency response service designed to support older persons living alone. Installed in seniors' homes, the wireless device enables users to request immediate assistance by pressing a single button during emergencies. The device provides 24/7 monitoring, two-way voice communication through 4G connectivity and links users directly to a Senior Activity Centre (SAC) or CareLine, a 24-hour telecare service operated by Changi General Hospital. The service enables rapid assessment and timely assistance while supporting independent living.
Older persons, particularly seniors living alone or those at risk of social isolation and medical emergencies.
The PAB strengthened emergency response capacity for older persons living independently by providing continuous telecare support and immediate access to assistance. Beginning in 2025, the programme expanded to approximately 170 additional public rental blocks, extending coverage to around 27,000 more seniors and increasing access to home-based emergency support.
The Personal Alert Button was developed by GovTech in partnership with healthcare and community care agencies to improve emergency support for older persons living alone. The service integrates a wireless alert device with a 24-hour monitoring network connecting Senior Activity Centres and CareLine. When activated, the device sends an alert, enables two-way communication and allows responders to assess the situation before providing assistance or dispatching emergency support. The programme has been progressively expanded through collaboration among government agencies and community partners to reach more seniors living in public rental housing.
The PAB demonstrates how digital technology can strengthen community-based support for older persons while enabling ageing in place. Its integration of smart technology, telecare services and community response mechanisms provides a practical, scalable and replicable model for improving safety and independent living among older adults.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) began as a limited scheme in 1948, with free medicines for pensioners. Today the PBS provides timely, reliable and affordable access to necessary medicines for Australians. The PBS is part of the Australian Government’s broader National Medicines Policy. The aim of the National Medicines Policy is to meet medication and related service needs, so that both optimal health outcomes and economic objectives are achieved. Under the PBS, the government subsidises the cost of medicine for most medical conditions. Most of the listed medicines are dispensed by pharmacists, and used by patients at home. Some medicines are only accessible at specialised medical services, usually hospitals.
Originally older persons, and now all Australian residents who hold a current Medicare card.
Before 1948, Australians generally paid for medicines out‑of‑pocket, with limited access through public hospitals or Friendly Society dispensaries. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) began as a limited program in 1948, offering free medicines to pensioners and a list of 139 “life‑saving and disease‑preventing” medicines free to the general public. Though PBS began as a limited scheme, by 1960 it had grown into a comprehensive program covering a wide range of prescription medicines. Over time, the PBS expanded to include more than 900 subsidised medicines by 2026 as part of the Australian Government’s broader National Medicines Policy.
The scheme expanded coverage for all Australian citizens.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme: a quick guide – Parliament of Australia
The Philippine Plan of Action for Senior Citizens (PPASC) 2023–2028 is a five‑year national framework that aims to build an inclusive, age‑friendly society by safeguarding the rights, health, and wellbeing of the country’s 9.22 million older persons while empowering them to remain active, productive members of their communities. It strengthens governance and coordination among agencies, promotes seniors’ civic participation and continued employment, enhances access to preventive and age‑responsive healthcare, and creates supportive environments aligned with the WHO age‑friendly cities framework across key domains such as transportation, housing, social inclusion, and community support services. The plan also supports policy reforms—including pension and retirement law amendments and stronger protections against elder abuse—to ensure financial security, dignity, and equal opportunities for Filipino seniors.
It is a clear action plan assigning responsibilities to Government entities and civil society. The eventual beneficiaries will be older persons in the Philippines.
The PPASC 2023–2028 was created through a collaborative, multi‑stakeholder process led by the National Commission of Senior Citizens (NCSC). It was developed in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and key national government agencies, together with other development partners. The process included planning activities, workshops, briefings, and a national validation summit, which ensured technical input, inter‑agency alignment, and stakeholder validation at national level.
It is a plan with defined expected outcomes and actions.
The Vietnam Pickleball Association (VPA) and Pickleball clubs at local levels organize regular Pickleball tournaments with 60+ age categories.
Older persons in Viet Nam who want to stay active.
Pickleball is becoming a very popular sport in Viet Nam in all age categories. Tournaments encourage seniors to stay active.
Pickleball is a sport that is friendly for older persons because it is a low impact but effective exercise. It encourages muscle engagement in legs, core, shoulders and arms and improves balance and coordination, thus supports fall prevention. It can also support intergenerational interaction.
Busan Metropolitan City implemented an enhanced comprehensive heat wave response plan for the official heat wave period (May 15–September 30), ahead of the Korea Meteorological Administration's new three-tier advisory system (advisory, warning, severe heat wave warning) plus a tropical night advisory, effective June 1 2026. The plan has four pillars. First, strengthening situation management: a new mobile situation room and an emergency-room surveillance system for heat-related illnesses, coordinated across the city, district/county governments, education office, and labor authorities. Second, protecting vulnerable groups: welfare workers checking roughly 32,000 at-risk seniors every other day (daily or twice-daily during severe warnings), plus five basic safety rules distributed to heat-vulnerable workplaces (313 sites), covering water, cooling equipment, rest breaks, cooling gear, and emergency reporting. Third, expanding heat shelters: 1,500 cooling shelters and 4,200 heat reduction facilities inspected and operating, funded by KRW 1.9 billion, plus expanded subway and bus shelters, additional shade structures, cooling fog systems, and partnerships with KT (135 branches) and BNK Busan Bank (196 branches) as neighborhood cooling spaces. Fourth, reinforced safety oversight for outdoor festivals, from pre-event inspections through real-time on-site monitoring, alongside the "Busan Safety ON" platform for integrated heat information.
Older persons in Busan city.
Busan developed the plan in response to the Korea Meteorological Administration's revised three-tier heat wave advisory system, set to take effect June 1, prompting the city to upgrade from a two-tier structure. The city proactively allocated funding early, KRW 1 billion in heat wave response funds and KRW 900 million in special adjustment grants to district and county governments in February and May, to prepare shelters and facilities ahead of summer. Implementation involved multiple stakeholders: city departments, all 16 district/county governments, the Busan Regional Employment and Labor Office, the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, police, fire authorities, and private partners (KT, BNK Busan Bank). Facilities (1,500 shelters, 4,200 heat reduction structures) were fully inspected in April before activation.
This is a good practice because it combines proactive, multi-tiered coordination (government agencies, private companies, and community workers) with early funding allocation and facility inspections completed before peak summer, ensuring readiness rather than reactive response. It is innovative in its public-private partnerships, such as converting KT and BNK Busan Bank branches into cooling shelters, and its use of a digital platform ("Busan Safety ON") for real-time heat information. Its structured, replicable framework, covering situation management, vulnerable group protection, shelter expansion, and event safety, makes it adaptable for other cities facing similar climate risks.
