Everyone deserves the chance to thrive in a meaningful and rewarding job. The refreshed Community Care Skills Standards Framework empowers Community Care staff at Active Ageing Centres (AACs) to be equipped with the necessary skills to deliver exceptional care to seniors. It provides AACs with greater clarity on training and upskilling pathways for their staff, while also motivating them to continually enhance their skills.
The CCSSF was developed in 2019 as a sector-centric skills guide to help Community Care Organisations and their staff develop and upskill their skill competencies. In 2024, it was enhanced to identify skill competencies relevant to build capabilities of AAC staff as part of the national Age Well initiative, which encourages seniors to age well in their communities.
The enhanced CCSSF identifies skill competencies under eight domains:
- Clinical Care
- Personal Care
- Therapy
- Psychosocial
- Care Coordination
- Administration and Operation
- Inter and Intrapersonal Skills
- Volunteer and Community Partnerships. [New!]
The Volunteer and Community Partnerships domain has been specifically introduced as part of the new AAC care model, which emphasises the need for AAC staff to collaborate with volunteers and actively engage seniors within their communities. This approach aims to build community-centric ecosystems that empower seniors to age well and remain connected within their community.
With CCSSF as a guide, employers are empowered to recognise, develop skills of their AAC staff and employees can attend the relevant skills training and be upskilled to better engage seniors in their AACs.
These AAC skill standards are categorised into three main AAC job functions (Centre Manager, Programme Executive, and Volunteer Executive) and an auxiliary role (Volunteer).
These AAC skill standards are validated by Community Care organisations (CCOs) during an industry validation and endorsed by the AIC Manpower Committee (MPC) comprising of CCO senior management. It was also shared at platforms such as the Tripartite Community Care Council comprising of representatives from AIC, Health and Employee Union (HSEU), Ministry of Health (MOH), SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and Community Care Organisations.
Industry Validation with CCO representatives on 9 May 2024
Sharing at Tripartite Community Care Council on 29 May 2024
With the identified skills competencies, AAC Community Care staff can uplift their capability through the endorsed training roadmap. They can attend courses offered under the AIC Learning Network, enrol in part-time courses organised by Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL). Community Care Manpower Development Award (CCMDA) can be utilised for IHL courses.
“Previously, we had to adapt from the national SkillsFuture framework [from other industries] to create our own AAC courses. But with this [CCSSF refresh AAC 2.0] skills framework, it is very good as we can match the skill standards with the course. Just like picking a dish from a menu, this skills framework allows people to ascertain the skills gap and upskill themselves for a particular functional skill. I see the importance of having this framework, as it makes everyone’s job easy as we can use this common skill standards and speak the same language… They [AIC] have built the building blocks for us.” – Assoc. Prof. Lee Kheng Hock, Deputy CEO (Education and Community Partnerships) Singhealth Community Hospitals
What can you do?
If you are part of an AAC, your role is vital. Join us on this journey. Learn about the CCSSF Refresh-AAC 2.0 and use it as a framework for recruitment, hiring and upskilling of your staff. If you are an AAC staff, explore the courses in the training roadmap to uplift your capability as an AAC staff. Be part of a movement that transforms lives for our seniors.
You can download the CCSSF resources from the AIC Learning Network below:
Who is this resource for?
All Active Ageing Centre Senior Management, Human Resources and staff
What can you take away from this resource?
You will have a deeper understanding of the CCSSF AAC specific skill standards and training roadmap. Discover more about the proposed AAC training roadmap, which outlines courses corresponding to the various functional roles in AACs.
