A current pilot where elderly residents enjoy independent living in a group home at a block in Pipit road is going well, and the Government intends to roll out 60 more such homes by 2016, said Acting Minister of Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing in Parliament on Thursday. These 16 homes will be able to serve about 700 elderly in total.

Currently, the pilot is housed at eight one-room flats on the seventh floor of Block 94 in Pipit Road. It allows seniors to share space and live independently in the community. The group homes enable them to live out their last years in the community rather than in institutions.

Seven units house three seniors each, while another unit is used as an office and as a common activity room for residents. The units are fully furnished with beds and television sets.

To live in one of these group homes, residents must be aged 65 and above, require minimal living assistance and have little family support. The current options for the elderly who fit this criteria is to live in at home or nursing home.