Orchid Laundry director Harry Toh (left) with Mr Michael Tan (centre), who works there twice a week under a worktherapy programme with Apex Harmony Lodge.
SINGAPORE – Twice a week, Mr Michael Tan, 59, works for a laundry firm at an industrial estate in Gul Link. His job gives him an outing from the dementia care facility where he resides. The former plasterer also likes earning money to buy snacks and other items he wants.
“I like to do things with my hands,” says Mr Tan, in between folding towels.
Ms Emily Ong, 58, runs workshops on diversity and inclusion and hosts a peer support group for people with dementia and their carers. Seven years ago, she was diagnosed with young-onset dementia, which is when the condition manifests in people below the age of 65.
“My advocacy and consultative work engages my brain,” she says. “I’m still able to do a lot of things. I want people to know that.”
Both Mr Tan and Ms Ong find their work therapeutic. It is meaningful, gives them asense of purpose and helps to maintain their cognitive faculties.
However, for many in the workforce, a diagnosis of dementia signals instant retirement or dismissal.
Loss of memory as well as cognitive decline are part of dementia. However, the condition progresses differently in different people.
Ms Ong does not believe that a diagnosis of dementia should take people out of the workforce immediately.
“People take years to build their expertise, and even after a diagnosis of dementia, companies can still tap that expertise for a period of time,” she says.
Ms Alison Lim, 68, who has young-onset dementia and was diagnosed in her 50s, has recently been training companies on how to work with clients or employees who have dementia. The co-founder of ground-up initiative Dementia & Co says some companies see value in being dementia-friendly or dementia-inclusive.
Such openness helps to build trust between employer and workforce, she says. It allows people with dementia or cognitive impairment to get the support they need to continue working optimally.
Not being inclusive may cost companies more, she adds. “Staff with dementia orother conditions may hide the truth and make big mistakes.”
Ms Alison Lim and her daughter Jamie Lynn Buitelaar (seen here in 2022) founded Dementia & Co to raise awareness of what it is like to live with dementia.
In Singapore, one in 11 people has dementia, reported a study led by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH). The results of this Well-being of the Singapore Elderly study, released in 2024, noted that the prevalence of dementia has dropped from 2013,when it was one in 10 people.
However, global data shows a rising trend in young-onset dementia. This trendaffects workforce participation.
In a written response to questions, Ms Tracy Kwan, chief human resources officer of Dementia Singapore, says the agency knows of people who have been released from employment upon their diagnosis, without their remaining abilities being considered. Some of them might be sole breadwinners.
Ms Ong says that some of her peers with young-onset dementia were asked to leave their jobs after being diagnosed. They were financially compensated, but still felt the impact. “Even now, they feel empty without their jobs.”
Losing a job can mean losing an identity. It means reduced opportunities for socialisation. It can mean less cognitive engagement with the world.
Ms Emily Ong, 58, was diagnosed with young-onset dementia about seven years ago. She uses AI writing tools to help hecommunicate professionally.
Meaningful employment can help people maintain their cognitive function and sense of well-being.
Ms Tan Min Fei, senior occupational therapist with IMH, oversees activities forpatients with dementia.
She says they respond well to tasks they are familiar with. For example, someone who worked as a seamstress might still be able to sew. Someone who has cooked for much of his or her life will still be able to do tasks customised for his or her ability,such as cleaning vegetables.
“You need to consider the skills they have and give them tasks they are able to do,” she says. “It maintains cognitive function. They feel like they still have a role to play.”
Ms Ong and Ms Lim sometimes struggle with finding the right word and completing sentences. They have found ways around this. Ms Ong uses AI writing tools like Grammarly to help her communicate professionally. Ms Lim relies on her daughter Jamie Lynn Buitelaar or others around her.
Ms Lim says: “In the past, when I was struggling to find the right word, I would cry. Now, we make a game of it. Everyone guesses what Alison is trying to say.”
In 2021, Dementia Singapore released a toolkit for companies to become dementia-inclusive. It also has a special interest group on employment co-founded by Ms Ong.
The toolkit recommends job redesign and modifi cations to accommodate staff with cognitive impairment, or those who are caregivers. It suggests disability-friendly toilets and clear signage to help people find their way.
Yet companies often do not see the need to become dementia-inclusive, says Ms Ong.
Retaining an employee with dementia often requires extra effort. So, why would any company do that, let alone hire someone with dementia?
Mr Harry Toh, director of Orchid Laundry, has two reasons for doing so. One was to address manpower shortage, as hiring of foreign workers became more restricted. The other was a desire to make his family business more accessible.
A relative has special needs and Mr Toh, 45, says this made him think about what could be done to help others who might be marginalised.
Orchid Laundry has more than 100 staff, and at least 20 of them have dementia or special needs.
Orchid Laundry has more than 100 staff, and at least 20 of them have dementia or special needs.
About a decade ago, it started a work therapy programme with Apex Harmony Lodge, a purpose-built home for people with dementia. Twice a week, residents and community clients of the lodge head to Gul Link, where they fold towels, bathrobes and linens from hotels.
Mr Tan and his peers work from about 10am to 2.30pm, including a tea break and a lunch break, and are paid $30 a session. They are accompanied by staff from the lodge and community volunteers, who keep the workers with dementia on track.
The workers from Apex Harmony Lodge operate differently from the laundry’s other staff. They do their tasks around a table in an open area, to minimise noise and distraction. They have chairs to sit on, if they prefer.
Signage leads to the bathrooms, which have anti-slip mats.
Renovating the bathrooms was easy, compared with convincing the laundry staff to work with people who have dementia, Mr Toh says. “My employees asked me, ‘Boss, why are you hiring these people? We have no time as it is, and now we also have totake care of them.’”
However, when the work therapy programme was suspended during the pandemic, they began to miss the workers from Apex Harmony Lodge.
“They were a liability before, but now, they are an important part of the workforce,”Mr Toh says. “Slowly, my staff came to accept them and now expect them at work.”
Hiring people with dementia has not solved his manpower shortage, he adds. Such workers might do only 20 to 50 per cent of what a person without dementia can do.
“From a cost-effective perspective, it might not make sense. But this is not about profit or loss. They are still able to do something meaningful, and we want to help them.”
(From left) Mr Michael Tan harvesting vegetables at Apex Harmony Lodge with fellow residents Peter Lim and Tay Cheng Kuay. The lodge is a purpose-built home for people with dementia.
Ms Soh Mee Choo, chief executive of Apex Harmony Lodge, says people with dementia aspire to do the same things everyone does – the right to live with dignity. The work therapy programme offers them a way to do that.
For the safety of the workers, occupational therapists and physio therapists assess the job and work site, and suggest modifications if necessary.
Staff from the lodge break the job into manageable tasks. Family members are keptinformed of what their loved ones are doing.
Those on the work therapy programme have responded well, she adds. “They are more alert. They are happier because they have things to look forward to. They eat and sleep well,” she says.
Depending on the stage of dementia, people require different challenges to keep them engaged. Within the lodge, residents carry out daily tasks such as cleaning thecommon areas, gardening and cooking together. Residents with early stage dementia may assist in washing dishes used by others who are less mobile.
It is important to continue to assess each resident’s ability and design or modify tasks accordingly, Ms Soh says.
Another partner in the lodge’s work therapy programme is Cafe Brera at Reunion,the second food business started by Ms Thrina Low, who opened Bakery Brera in2016. She has 50 staff across both businesses, and five of them have special needs ordifferent abilities.
One cafe staff member is Mr Sky Yeo, who has cognitive impairment because of meningoencephalitis, or inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
Mr Yeo, 66, used to work in the building and construction industry. He now has difficulty remembering things and can find it hard to use apps and other technology.
Cafe Brera founder Thrina Low (left) helping employee Sky Yeo (right), who has cognitive impairment caused by inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.
He started work at the cafe in 2023 and works there once a week from 11am to 5pm. He helps to clear dishes and organise cutlery and crockery after washing up. He takes photos with his phone to remind him where things are supposed to be.
“I must thank Thrina for accepting me for who I am,” he says. “The staff here don’t view me as a sick person. They treat me as part of the team.”
Ms Low has hired people with autism or other conditions that might make it difficult to find regular employment.
She says: “If they want to work, we should give them a chance. I’m always looking at what they do best. It’s about fitting people to the right job.”
No job is too humble as every task contributes to the business running smoothly, she adds.
As for the extra supervision and training people might need, she says: “A lot of people need coaching and guidance. When they start, everyone is lost and needs time to settle down.”
Correction note: An earlier version of this story said that residents with mild cognitive impairment assist in feeding others who are less mobile. This is incorrect as only care staff can feed residents. A caption also incorrectly stated the number of times a week that Mr Michael Tan works at Orchid Laundry.
Dementia Singapore’s toolkit for businesses is available at dementia.org.sg/business-toolkit
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