Editorial | Hong Kong must ensure its elderly age with dignity and care
As the main provider of housing for the elderly, the government must set a benchmark for residential flat developments to fight isolation
There are several initiatives and pilot schemes that address the problem piecemeal. But the support network remains fragmented. It badly needs the government, the biggest landlord to the elderly, to use public housing as a platform to make a difference and set a benchmark for all residential flat developments.
The discovery of skeletal remains of a 77-year-old woman in her home on August 6 was the second such case in three months in a public flat in Kwai Tsing district. In May, an 83-year-old man’s skeletal remains were discovered inside the bathroom of his flat nearby.
A database for isolated elderly residents could help prevent such cases. Experts have emphasised the need to better use technology to monitor at-risk older residents. District-level community care teams usually lack information on where they live. Ted Liu Chi-ho, an organiser from the Society for Community Organisation, said that such a database would offer a more efficient solution than knocking on doors.
Last month, the Social Welfare Department launched a pilot scheme in Kwun Tong and Sha Tin districts to identify older residents living alone or with their spouse only, and carers looking after elderly and disabled people in public housing estates.
The Housing Authority recently launched a pilot scheme for installing door sensors in elderly residents’ homes in two public housing estates. The sensors track door activity, alerting family members if no movement is detected within a specified time frame. These schemes are a basis for expanding coverage of the vulnerable elderly.