Seniors checking in on neighbours: How groups are preventing lonely deaths among S’pore’s elderly

SINGAPORE – In Jurong East, a social service agency is turning to

volunteers to keep a closer watch

on their elderly neighbours who live alone, and prevent undetected deaths.

Loving Heart Multi-Service Centre plans to pay some of these trained volunteers $10 an hour to befriend vulnerable seniors, refer them to the help they need, and work with Loving Heart to see to their well-being.

It plans to roll out its “No More Undetected Deaths” project in the first quarter of 2026.

For its pilot, the agency, which runs three active ageing centres in Jurong East, aims to start with seniors living in two blocks in Yuhua. In time, it hopes to reach 400 of them in the estate, identifying in the process those who are vulnerable and need support.

This initiative comes as more elderly Singaporeans live alone. The Republic is expected to become a super-aged society in 2026, when 21 per cent or more of the population is aged 65 and older.

Loving Heart’s head of community health Elaine Ho said: “One issue we see is social isolation. The seniors don’t want to go out or engage with others, and their health deteriorates.

“So we want to bring back the kampung spirit, and get people to look out for each other.”

Loving Heart said it knew of only one

undetected or lonely death

in its midst in recent years, but its president Teng Su Ching said even one such death is one too many.

The case happened in 2024, when the decomposing body of an 80-year-old woman was found in a Jurong East flat after neighbours reported a stench coming from the unit. The woman was living with her husband, who was hospitalised at the time that she died, neighbours told Shin Min Daily News.

The deaths of at least 33 seniors were undetected in 2025, according to figures compiled by Loving Heart from media reports and online sites such as Death Kopitiam Singapore, a site that discusses issues relating to death and dying.

In 2024, there were at least 42 such deaths.

The police do not track the number of people who die alone and whose bodies are not discovered for a period of time, according to a 2024 parliamentary reply.

In October 2025, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said in a parliamentary reply that there were about 87,000 residents aged 65 and older who were living alone in 2024.

This was a 50 per cent jump from the 58,000 such seniors who lived alone in 2018, going by figures from an earlier parliamentary reply. 

To prevent seniors from dying alone at home, Mr Ong said, befriending programmes in the community are essential. Outreach efforts by the Silver Generation Office, grassroots volunteers and active ageing centres are crucial, and the Government will keep building up such initiatives, he said.

Loving Heart’s new initiative to tackle undetected deaths comes as it finds ways to plug gaps in care for seniors in the community.

It started a programme in 2022 sending trained volunteers, whom it calls community carers, to the homes of seniors with dementia to engage them through games and other activities, catering to those who are reluctant to attend centre-based activities.

In 2024, it partnered the National University Health System to start the Yuhua Community Compass Programme, which checks on and helps frequently hospitalised patients who are discharged.

For instance, Loving Heart follows up with patients to ensure they are taking their medication and attending medical appointments, said Ms Ho.

In its latest effort, Loving Heart will train volunteers to be block monitors and block monitor leads.

Block monitors will walk around their neighbourhood regularly to look out for vulnerable seniors and find out more about them. They will be trained to spot warning signs that something may be amiss, and pass on the information to the block monitor leads.

These block monitor leads – who get more training than block monitors – have to get to know the seniors, engage them in activities and work with Loving Heart to support their well-being, among other roles.

For the pilot phase, only block monitor leads would be paid, Professor Teng said.

Seniors reaching out to seniors

Other social service agencies, like Allkin Singapore and TOUCH Community Services, run similar initiatives, training volunteers – often seniors themselves – to reach out to their elderly neighbours.

In 2010, Allkin launched its Kindred Circle programme, where trained volunteers befriend and regularly check in on vulnerable seniors, alerting Allkin to any early signs of distress.

Ms Jocelyn Toh, head of Allkin Senior Service, said the volunteers are given a stipend of $6 to $15 per task for completing specific tasks, providing them with a supplementary income as well.

Tasks include accompanying seniors for medical appointments, engaging them in cognitive enrichment activities, and regularly checking in on socially isolated seniors.

The volunteers, who are aged 50 to over 80, have raised alerts about seniors in distress, allowing Allkin to address their needs early, Ms Toh said.

In one case, a volunteer noticed that a widow she was visiting was unusually withdrawn and downcast. She also spotted a note on the dining table.

When asked, the widow admitted that she had been thinking of ending her life. The volunteer immediately alerted an Allkin staff member, who called the police. The woman was taken to the Institute of Mental Health for assessment and counselling. 

In 2013, TOUCH Community Services started its Seniors Caring for Seniors programme at TOUCHpoint@Geylang Bahru. Under the initiative, seniors volunteer to reach out to other vulnerable seniors.

Mr Andy Ang, head of TOUCH Active Ageing, said: “As residents are on the ground every day, they are often the first to notice if anything is amiss. This care, rooted in trust and familiarity, strengthens social capital and fosters genuine connections.

“Over time, these relationships help to sustain a community-based care network around vulnerable seniors, ensuring that no one is left unseen or unsupported.”

Meanwhile, Lions Befrienders is

using an artificial intelligence (AI) voice agent to automate regular check-in calls

to vulnerable seniors, such as those with mobility issues, living alone. The agent can flag urgent cases requiring human attention and when a senior might need more help.

The agency can now check in on more seniors with the use of AI, its executive director Karen Wee said. Its voice agent now calls about 1,000 seniors regularly. 

Cheng Hong Welfare Service Society also helps needy seniors who may not have a next of kin through its Afterlife Memorial Service programme, which started in 2012.

The programme, which serves some 3,500 seniors, commits to arranging their last rites free of charge.

Volunteers visit the seniors 10 to 12 times a year to deliver food and groceries, and the charity’s medical escort service takes them to their medical appointments for those who need it, said the society’s chairman Kenny Sim.

He said: “Most seniors are concerned that they don’t have enough money for their last rites or who would do it for them, so we assure them we will be there for them.

“They are also afraid no one would discover their body. So we tell them, if they are sick, they should alert us. And if they are at the tail end of life, we would check in on them more regularly.

“Our belief is that no one should die alone, worrying about their last rites.”