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Conceptualization of Senior Living Community in Malaysia

Article  in  Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience · January 2018

DOI: 10.1166/asl.2018.12013

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 RESEARCH ARTICLE
Copyright © 2018 American Scientific Publishers Advanced Science Letters
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Vol. 24, 375–377, 2018

Conceptualization of Senior
Living Community in Malaysia
Norhidayah Mohd Yusoff∗ , Norzuwana Sumarjan, Mohd Taufik Zamri,
Salamiah A. Jamal, and Chemah Tamby Chik
Department of Hotel and Tourism Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA Selangor, Malaysia

The Asia’s population is ageing rapidly due to the increase of life expectancy and decline of fertility. The number
of older people is forecasted to quadruple from 533 million in 2015 to more than 2.45 billion in 2050 worldwide.
This scenario presents a challenge to the younger generation in taking care of the elderly while juggling with
their career and immediate family at the same time. The alternative to send the aged or older person to the
Senior Living Community (SLC) is still a stigma in the Eastern culture, particularly for the Malaysian. Thus, this
study is proposed to profile the acceptance and expectation of the Malaysia Gen X towards a more family-
friendly SLC concept. In-depth interviews with fifteen samples consisting an equal representative of the three
main races in Malaysia will be conducted. The interviews will be transcribed verbatimly, coded and analysed for
themes. Findings from this study is hoped to provide a model to develop an acceptable and reasonable SLC
that seems to be widely accepted in the future. A proper set up of the SLC could attract more people to use
the service, thus flourishing the lodging industry as well as the hospitality and tourism industry as a whole.
IP: 127.0.0.1
Ultimately, this study is important as it couldOn: Tue,off17people’s
balance Sep 2019 quality10:37:27
of life as the realization of the SLC
may help to reduce the worries Copyright: American
of the younger Scientific
generations Publishers
about the welfare of their parents or older family
members. Delivered by Ingenta

Keywords: Ageing Population, Senior Living Community, Acceptance, Expectation, Malaysia.

1. INTRODUCTION
In 2020, the aged population (age 60 years and above) in
Malaysia is estimated to increase to 10% of the population
(3.4 million) and 15% in the year 2030.1 This clearly indicates
that Malaysia will become an ageing nation by 2030.2 A popu-
lation is defined as ageing when 15% or more of its total popu-
lation are 60 years old and above.3 Traditionally, the usual living
arrangement for the older persons in Malaysia and many other
Asian countries is co-residing with their adult child that consti-
tute the establishment of an extended family which is a family
unit that includes close relatives (such as grandparents, aunts,
uncles) in addition to parents and children who all live nearby
or in one household.4 5 However, due to the nature of employ-
ment in the modern economy, today’s young generation prefer
to migrate from their parental locality in order to improve their
quality of life. The migration has forced children to leave their
parents and lead to a disintegration of the extended family.6 7
Consequently, many older persons have no other options than to
live alone or sent to institutional care such as old folk homes and
nursing homes.8
Unlike the Western societies, sending aged parents to institu-
tional care and senior housing is a stigma to Malaysians. This is
∗
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
partly due to numerous cases reported that children abandon their
parents in the institutional care and the issue of the older persons
being neglected in the old folk home.9 However, based on the
aforementioned factors, most adult children nowadays faced a
serious dilemma where they have to juggle with their career, their
own family and to give attention to the aged parents at the same
time. Correspondingly, this has produced pressure to children
who are squeezed between caring for both their own children
and their ageing parents.10 As a result, sending older person to
institutional care and senior housing is becoming popular among
adult children. This statement is supported by the Women, Fam-
ily and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Rohani
Abdul Karim who testified that although sending aged parents to
institutional care is still a stigma, it is common for Malaysian
nowadays to do that instead of looking after them.10
Studies about senior living community in Malaysia were
numerous.11–15 However, most of the studies focused on poli-
cies of old age financial protection, perceptions of middle class
retirees towards old folk homes, retirement motivation, housing
design code for long term care accommodation for senior citi-
zens, and issues and challenges in providing services for older
people in Malaysia. A local study by Anawa,16 found that the
9 out of 10 Malays are willing to accept the concept of senior
living community and stay in the senior living community upon

Adv. Sci. Lett. Vol. 24, No. 1, 2018 1936-6612/2018/24/375/003 doi:10.1166/asl.2018.12013 375
RESEARCH ARTICLE
retirement with the main reason not to burden their children.
Reaping at this opportunity, this study proposed to explore the
acceptance and expectation of the three main races of Malaysians
(Malay, Chinese, and Indian) towards a family-friendly senior liv-
ing community. Specifically, the objectives of the study are: (1) to
examine the need of family-friendly senior living community and
(2) to profile the acceptance and expectation of Malaysian Gen
X towards family-friendly senior living community concept.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. The Erosion of Family Support
Demographic trends such as smaller family size, greater life
expectancy, increased working women, younger generation with
better education, and geographic labour mobility have weaken
the family support for older persons. The act of sending the
older persons to reside in a senior living community still appar-
ently violates the norm of Asian cultural expectation including
Malaysian.17 This is partly due to some ineffective management
of the senior living community and rigidness to accept the con-
cept of such facility because of religious belief.18 However, the
increasing demand and the busyness of children to balance their
career and family had produced the need for a senior living
community.
2.2. The Provision of Aged Care Industry in Malaysia
Conservatively, some may not imagine living at the senior liv-
ing community when they retire as they think that they are
19 to have the highest older population in 2020 (16%).1 The infor-
still capable of handling their life. According to Penner et al.,
senior living community can be definedIP: as 127.0.0.1
a “special combina-
On: Tue, 17The
Copyright:
tion of housing, personalized supportive services, American
and health care Scientific Publishers
Delivered
designed to meet the needs of both scheduled and unscheduled of by Ingenta
those who need help with activities of daily living (ADL).” Gen-
erally, ADL is described as the basic functional abilities including
eating, bathing, dressing, toileting and walking that people need
to care for themselves without assistance.
15
According to Zulkifli, it is traditionally more renowned as
old folks’ home or nursing home which is said to be the place for
the older persons but in reality; those centres do not seem to fully
understand the user’s needs and do not bother to meet the require-
ments to suit the elderlies. In Malaysia, the proposed transfor-
mation of senior living community can be categorized into three:
the independent living (retirement village) which refers to devel-
opment of communities of active ageing in place, the assisted
living that provides clinical care at home, and the dependent
living which denotes the transformation of those nursing and
old folk homes to institutional care.1 These transformations are
in response towards the Economic Transformation Programme
(ETP) that identified seniors living as a long-term business oppor-
tunity. This is also aligned with the Healthcare National Key
Economic Area (NKEA). Although the NKEA is under the Min-
istry of Health, the senior living community can be considered as
hospitality establishment that provide a good care to the people.
2.3. Expected Ideal Components of
Senior Living Community
Conversely, the design of some senior living community in
Malaysia today does not accurately suit the need and capabil-
ities of the older persons as they are usually just transformed
from typical houses to become old folks home. In terms of
376
Adv. Sci. Lett. 24, 375–377, 2018
activities, a study by Che Anawa,16 revealed that the informants
would like to have religious activities, recreational activities, trav-
elling and medical check-ups. Moving forward, it can be esti-
mated that there will be the options of family-friendly senior
living community where proximity to family is emphasized.20
This trend is also known as multigenerational housing, in which
two or more generations are living nearby or together under
the same roof.21 A “hotel-like” senior living is preferred by a
certain group of affluent, highly independent residents. Most of
them are professionals who have gotten used to traveling, enjoy-
ing fine cuisines and expecting excellent service all their lives.
People who have lack of social support from family, friends or
neighbours are more probably considering to reside in a retire-
ment village which offers community support, social activities
and engagement amongst residents.22 The older persons tend to
engage with their inner being and search for meaning of life.23
Therefore, there is need for emotional balance as they age. Stress
levels can be reduced by carrying out spiritual activities as they
provide a source of comfort and hope to older persons.24
3. METHODOLOGY
This study will be conducted using a qualitative approach. Inter-
view with open-ended questions will be used as the instrument.
The potential informants will be Malaysian working individuals
from the three main races (Malay, Chinese and Indian), aged 40
and above who possess the Employee Provident Fund account or
a pension scheme and reside in Selangor state which is projected
mants will be recruited using purposeful and snowball sampling.
Sep 2019 10:37:27
researcher plans to conduct in depth interviews with approx-
imately 15 informants (n = 15). Five informants will be inter-
viewed from each race. If there are new data emerges from the
fifth informant from each group, the researcher will continue and
increase the sample size until the data is saturated. The data will
be transcribed verbatim, coded and analysed for themes. A mem-
ber checking procedure will be conducted with the informants
to increase the trustworthiness and credibility of the transcribing
process.
4. CONCLUSION
This study will produce practical solutions and findings that are
applicable to enhance the seniors’ quality of life in Malaysia.
Knowing the acceptance and expectation of senior living commu-
nity might help relevant parties and hospitality providers to better
serve the older persons. Besides, the findings of this study will
be used to formulate a framework or a model of a senior living
community that is reasonable and acceptable for the Malaysian.
This could help minimize the stigma of the Malaysians to send
the older persons to such centres. Apart from that, the model
and guidelines could also help any individuals or organizations
who intend to invest on a senior living community centre, which
is a part of hospitality sector. The findings of this research can
also be applied by the existing elderly care centre to improve the
current process, activities, facilities and environment. This study
will also contribute to the body of literature in both hospitality
and healthcare sectors regarding senior living community. Previ-
ous studies in these areas barely address this issue, particularly in
the Malaysia setting. Hence, it also offers an avenue for potential
future research.
 Adv. Sci. Lett. 24, 375–377, 2018
Acknowledgments: This study is funded by the Fundamen-
tal Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) under the Malaysian Ministry
of Higher Education (MOHE). Project Code: 600-RMI/FRGS 5/3
(0038/2016).
References and Notes
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Delivered by Ingenta
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Received: 27 October 2017. Accepted: 10 November 2017.
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