People in Singapore Favour Home-Based Care Despite Continued Strain on Caregivers, Great Eastern Study Finds

New study reveals a significant gap between long-term care expectations and reality, with home care costs underestimated by 32% as caregiver burnout scales.

SINGAPORE, 11 June 2026 – A new study released today by Great Eastern revealed that while a majority of Singaporeans desire home-based care for long-term care (LTC) needs, individuals are underestimating financial and emotional pressures. The latest Great Eastern long-term care study¹ highlights a disconnect between public perception and the realities of long-term disability and caregiving costs in Singapore.

“We now recognise that that long-term care is no longer solely about fulfilling medical needs. There is a desire by Singaporeans to maintain their dignity when under long-term medical care. Everyone, regardless of age or ability, wants to continue to be seen, heard and valued, and will treasure a sense of belonging to familiar environments, hence we see increasing preference for home-based care,” said Kwek-Perroy Li Choo, Managing Director, Great Eastern.

“As recovery costs rise, we want Singaporeans to be aware of their options for financial protection via CareShield Life and supplementary plans like GREAT CareShield. We are entering a new phase where we start providing earlier-stage financial protection for mild disability with practical caregiving benefit for our policyholders. To provide this additional support, Great Eastern will launch a one-stop home caregiving concierge for all GREAT CareShield policyholders and their loved ones from July 2026. This follows our very successful GREAT Medical Care Concierge – a 24/7 service that guides and assists Great Eastern’s Integrated Shield plan customers to the right specialists in their time of need.”

Long-term care is not just an age-related problem

With half of healthy Singaporeans expected to develop severe disability at some point in their lifetime², whether due to injury or illness, long-term care is becoming an increasingly important reality for individuals and families regardless of age. According to Great Eastern claims data³:

The awareness-action gap persists

The Great Eastern long-term care study also unveils a disconnect between awareness and action, reflecting the underestimation of one’s risk of disability as a possible reason in delaying enhanced protection.

This indicates that while public education has supported broader understanding, it has not yet translated into action, mirroring the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) findings that only 1 in 3 Singaporeans have taken up a supplementary plan to enhance their baseline CareShield Life or ElderShield coverage.

The desire for home-based care and dignity

When long-term care becomes necessary, Singaporeans show a strong preference for home-based care.

This preference is driven heavily by the desire to maintain personal dignity. When asked to share their worries over disability (e.g. unable to perform one day-to-day activity independently), a majority highlighted concerns over losing their independence and dignity, social isolation, and feeling like a burden to loved ones.

The hidden intangible and financial costs of home-based care

However, home-based care presents its own set of challenges as long-term care journeys grow longer in duration.

The study exposed a perception gap regarding the actual cost of home care. Respondents estimated the monthly cost of long-term care at around S$2,400, while care provider Care@Homes projected costs closer to S$3,500 per month – an underestimation of approximately 32%. These costs exceed the basic coverage of S$689 per month provided by CareShield Life⁴.

Closing the gap: Every bit of support counts

When asked what specific services respondents would want insurance companies to provide in the event of disability:

From a caregiver perspective, respondents highlighted practical support as something that would make the biggest difference:

Bridging protection with practical support

To support the growing need for practical and coordinated support, Great Eastern will launch a one-stop home caregiving concierge, in collaboration with Care@Homes, for all GREAT CareShield policyholders from July.

GREAT CareShield policyholders, and their loved ones will enjoy benefits including:

These benefits complements GREAT CareShield, the only CareShield Life supplement plan in Singapore that provides monthly payouts for a lifetime, from the mild disability stage (the inability to perform 1 Activity of Daily Living).

By pairing earlier-stage financial protection with practical caregiving support, Great Eastern aims to help individuals maintain dignity, quality of life and greater comfort throughout their long-term care journey, while easing caregiving pressures on loved ones.

^{[1] Great Eastern’s claim is based on the research conducted by NielsenIQ from Oct 2025 to Jan 2026, with a sample size of n=1000 among Singapore residents aged 30-64.
[2] CareShield Life and why you should start long-term care planning: CPF Board
[3] Great Eastern GREAT CareShield claims data payable up until 31 May 2026.  
[4] The CareShield Life payout is $689 per month in 2026. Payouts increase annually by 4% each year until age 67, or when a successful claim is made, whichever happens first.}

About Great Eastern

Founded in 1908, Great Eastern is a well-established market leader and trusted brand in Singapore and Malaysia. With over S$122 billion in assets and more than 16 million policyholders, including 11.7 million from government schemes, it provides insurance solutions to customers through multiple distribution channels – a tied agency force, bancassurance, direct digital, digital partnerships and financial advisory firm Great Eastern Financial Advisers. The Group also operates in Indonesia and Brunei.

The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Limited and Great Eastern General Insurance Limited have been assigned the financial strength ratings of "AA" by Fitch Ratings and "AA-" by S&P Global Ratings, one of the highest among Asian life insurance companies. Great Eastern's asset management subsidiary, Lion Global Investors Limited, is one of the leading asset management companies in Southeast Asia.

Great Eastern is a subsidiary of OCBC, the longest established Singapore bank, formed in 1932. It is the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets and one of the world’s most highly-rated banks, with an Aa1 rating from Moody’s and AA- by both Fitch and S&P. Recognised for its financial strength and stability, OCBC is consistently ranked among the World’s Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore by The Asian Banker.

#GreatEasternSG #ReachforGreat

For more information, please contact:
Malvin Chua / Priscilla Tan
Group Corporate Communications and CSR
Email: Corpcomms-sg@greateasternlife.com

 
Reema Ashok / Sim Bao Zi
Edelman Singapore 
Email: greateastern@edelman.com