Seniors go for gold at NTUC Health’s Golden Games

SINGAPORE – The residents of NTUC Health’s nursing homes became athletes recently as they competed at the inaugural NTUC Health Golden Games.

The competition was designed to make routine physiotherapy exercises fun for seniors. It also aimed to empower them by giving them a new identity as competitors with the strength and agency to win.

The seniors, some of whom use wheelchairs and walking sticks, including some in their 90s, had been preparing for the event since February. They had supervised training sessions incorporated into their schedules to help them build strength and mobility.

A total of 114 participants first took part in internal trials within their nursing homes before competing against another home in their cluster – East, West or Central. The top 45 competitors from five nursing homes then came together for the final, held at Jurong Spring Community Club on May 18. Participants from a sixth nursing home were unable to attend the final because of illness.

The competitors were split into three tiers, based on their mobility and physical capability, and competed in two challenges.

The first was an individual challenge, focused on strength and mobility in different parts of the body.

For this first challenge, the two lower tiers competed in hand cycling, measuring the number of turns they were able to complete in five minutes. The highest tier, Tier 1, did an exercise called Sit to Stand, where they had to sit down and stand up as many times as they could in one minute.

The second challenge was a team challenge, with residents representing their clusters to toss beanbags into a basket.

Tier 1 competitors had to stand and bend down to pick up the beanbags from the floor; Tier 2 competitors were seated and reached down for the beanbags in an elevated basket; and Tier 3 competitors held the beanbag baskets on their laps.

Modifying the games for different ability levels allowed participants to compete fairly without pushing themselves excessively.

Ms Tricia Kong Zi Ning, 34, principal occupational therapist at NTUC Health, said: “A lot of (the residents) do have chronic illnesses or disabilities, so finding the right intensities matters a lot to make sure they don’t get injured.”

Staff also took safety measures for the residents, leading a mass warm-up at the start of the event and taking competitors’ blood pressure before and after each activity. Standing competitors wore gait belts, allowing staff to provide support as needed.

Energy was high at the competition, which began with an opening ceremony where the seniors passed a torch to one another down a line.

As each event got under way, staff and participants watching from the sidelines would clap, cheer and play instruments, such as drums, to show their support for and encourage their peers from their own nursing homes.

At the end of the day, the West cluster won two events and the Central cluster won one in the team challenge. All winning competitors took home a trophy.

Mr Osman Dangor, an 81-year-old resident of the Jurong Spring branch, said he practised every day using a grip trainer to prepare for the hand cycling event. He added that it reminded him of his youth, when he would ride bicycles.

He enjoyed participating in the games and plans to continue his training after the competition. His team was one of the winners of the beanbag toss.

“Whenever we bring him home, he wants to quickly come back (to the nursing home) to meet his friends,” joked his daughter, Ms Sunarti Osman, 46. “He’s always very into all these games.”

According to NTUC Health’s internal surveys, support for the Golden Games from the 114 participating residents seems strong, with 94.7 per cent saying they would want to join the games again.

More importantly, 93 per cent agreed that the games had made them feel healthier or stronger.

An 87-year-old Chai Chee branch resident, Ms Lim Guat Bee, said that since exercising for the Golden Games, she no longer felt pain in her knee as she had before.

Ms Kong said: “Sometimes what our residents feel is that ‘Hey, I don’t need rehab, the nurses are going to help me anyway’. But with this, it motivates them to get a little better so they can compete better, and this translates to how they are moving around the nursing home.”

For instance, she said, residents would now lean forward to reach for their meals themselves instead of waiting for staff to help.

She added that nurses were now also more willing to challenge residents to try to do things themselves, rather than immediately offering assistance.

When asked how older people should stay active at home without physiotherapy, Ms Kong said the best way is to integrate exercise into day-to-day life.

“Something as simple as – instead of sitting down and folding my clothes, can I do it standing at the dining table?

“A lot of this goes back to what the elderly are interested in, and what motivates them to get out of the house or out of their seats. If you can walk, walk. If you cannot walk, stand. If you cannot stand, sit upright.”

The Golden Games are likely to continue to expand, either in the second half of 2026 or in 2027. While the inaugural event focused on fundamentals like standing and leaning forward, future iterations may explore other areas like strength or cognitive ability.

This iteration of the Golden Games was sponsored by the NTUC Community Fund.