Senior Citizen Activity Centre (Pusat Kegiatan Warga Emas)

Status: Ongoing

Tutong District Brunei Darussalam

Print this page City population: 4407150.1% over 60Practice started in 2017

Summary

The Senior Citizen Activity Centre (Pusat Kegiatan Warga Emas, PKWE) was established by Tutong District’s Community Development Department, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports on 12th March 2013. This Centre aims to serve as a platform for older citizens to stay active and contribute to their community.

This Centre acts as a place for older citizens to carry out daily social and religious programmes and activities. It also involves partnerships from many agencies such as the government, private sectors, non-governmental organisations, and local communities. The Centre provides inclusive access to all generations and helps to strengthen the relationships between older people, youth, persons with disabilities, and the local community.

The Senior Citizen Activity Centre also aims to be a knowledge-hub for older people, where they may gain knowledge, engage in improving daily life skills such as leisure, religion, health, and socialization. The Centre is intended to support the development of older people through a supportive environment that allows them to improve their quality of life.

As a general overview, the main objectives of The Senior Citizen Activity Centre in the Tutong District of Brunei (established in 2020) are to:
1. Provide a platform for older people to share their experiences and expertise
2. Encourage the involvement and cooperation of various agencies in sustaining the well-being of older people
3. Strengthen interaction and communication between older people to reduce loneliness, and
4. Encourage life-long learning amongst older people, through achieving various goals and new life-skills

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Sector(s): Education, Health, Information and communication, Other

Other sector(s): Religious, Tourism, Arts and Handicrafts, Agriculture, Entrepeneurship

Desired outcome for older people:
Learn, grow and make decisions

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:

Ageism
Accessibility
Ageing in place
Dementia
Disasters and emergencies
Healthy behaviours (e.g. physical activity)
Intergenerational activities
Inclusion
Participation
Technologies
Other

Other Issues: Religious

Contact details

Name: Awang Tarif, Siti Munawwarah

Email address: munawwarah.tarif@moh.gov.bn

Preferred language(s): English

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Social or health care provider

Others involved in the project:

Local authorities
Volunteers
Research institution

How collaboration worked: The Senior Citizen Activity Centre is administered by an Administrative Committee, whose membership consists of members registered under the Senior Citizen Activity Centre. This committee is responsible for: i. Senior Citizen Activity Centre’s management and administration; ii. planning and regulating activities at Senior Citizen Activity Centre; iii. proper and orderly financial management; iv. disseminating any instructions and regulations issued by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports from time to time; v. establishment of Working Committee; Senior Citizen Activity Centre operates every working day except Friday, Sunday and public holidays with at least six (6) hours a day. The programmes and activities implemented must meet the needs of the elderly which consist of: – religious activities conducted by the senior citizens themselves or with assistance from Ministry of Religious Affairs – arts and handicrafts activities – basic introduction to information and communication technology from relevant ICT authorities – health-related programmes such as health screening, health education and other activities that support and promote a healthy lifestyle from the Ministry of Health – social and recreational activities including agriculture and music – entrepeneurship programmes involving senior citizens bazaar, expo or talks from private sectors. The Senior Citizen Activity Centre will be given an annual allocation for the purpose of financing any Senior Citizen Activity Centre’s official programmes and activities only by the Department of Community Development, Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. However, other agencies may contribute to the implementation of activities and programmes.

Older people’s involvement: Older people were involved in the age-friendly practice at multiple or all stages

Details on older people’s involvement: Older people are involved in the planning, developing and implementing various activities conducted in the Senior Citizen Activity Centre. They are consulted regularly in identifying their needs and interests of relevant activities especially related to their health needs. Majority of older people are active members of the Senior Citizen Activity Centre and participated in the activities run in the Centre.

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: No

Do you plan to evaluate your age-friendly practice? No

Feedback:
No feedback has been conducted yet.

Expansion plans:
Yes. Initially, the establishment of Senior Citizen Activity Centre started in Brunei and Muara District on 12th March 2013, followed by in Tutong District on 10 July 2017 and in 2020, in Temburong District on 13 January and in Belait District on 19 February. Thus, the Senior Citizen Activity Centre has been expanded to other districts in Brunei Darussalam.

Looking back

Challenges:
The main challenges faced are: 1. Over-scheduling of activities conducted in the Centre. The Centre’s Management team has developed a proper activity schedule so as to avoid clashes of activities. 2. Lack of exposure and marketing of activities for the public. Regular media coverage has been carried out to inform the public on the implementation of the activities in the Centre. 3. Lack of health-related outdoor activity. More outdoor activity such as ‘Amazing Race’ or fun outdoor activity has been included in the yearly planning of health-related activities.