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District Highlights 2021-22

Paying Attention to Elderly Singletons/doubletons, Persons with Dementia and Their Carers, Building a Caring and Inclusive Community

  • The Eastern and Wan Chai District Social Welfare Office (District Social Welfare Office) continued to collaborate with the District Elderly Community Centres (DECCs), Neighbourhood Elderly Centres (NECs) and Integrated Family Service Centres (IFSCs) in six “small localities” designated by the Working Group on Enhancing Support to Singleton Elderly and Two-elder Families to formulate locality-specific services and intervention strategies, and organise different thematic physical and on-line programmes during the pandemic, so as to strengthen the networks of the elderly at the district level, equip them and their carers with better knowledge of community services, and enhance their motivation to receive services, thereby cultivating a caring community.
  • To strengthen the support for carers of elderly persons and assist them in meeting their own needs, the District Social Welfare Office has collaborated with DECCs and NECs since 2019 to set up a Carer Hub in all seven IFSCs across the districts to provide a physical space for carers to relieve their stress at fixed dates and times through different thematic programmes, while further consolidating the support for carers at the district level. Since September 2021, these Carer Hubs are open to carers of persons with disabilities (PWDs) as well.
  • The Eastern and Wan Chai District Co-ordinating Committee on Elderly Services printed 3 000 copies of 2021 Carer Stories cum Resource Kit in August 2021. An electronic version is also available for download. The publication recounts positive and encouraging life stories of carers across the districts, and introduces community resources available for the elderly and their carers to facilitate their access to suitable services.
  • The District Social Welfare Office organised a district-wide promotional campaign on 17 December 2021 to promote the Dementia Friendly Community Campaign, Support for Carers Project, and district-led Carer Hubs by means of a themed tram roving between Wan Chai and Shau Kei Wan and eight street counters set up at Wan Chai and along the tram route to distribute promotional leaflets, brochures and other publicity items. The campaign reached out to about 30 000 citizens.
  • The District Social Welfare Office fully supported the Dementia Friendly Community Campaign’s goal of enhancing public knowledge and awareness of dementia by liaising with different stakeholders and organisations in the districts and organising Dementia Friends Information Sessions for them. As at 31 March 2022, there were about 1 700 registered Dementia Friends and about 120 Dementia Friends Ambassadors in the districts. In addition, the District Social Welfare Office continued to invite property management companies to take part in the Support for Carers Project by training their frontline property management staff to identify and assist needy elderly persons with potential service needs and match them with welfare service units for follow-up when necessary. Under the co-ordination of the District Social Welfare Office, elderly service units in the districts successfully engaged and trained more than 1 300 frontline staff from over 120 property management companies/owners’ corporations.

Strengthening Family Relationship, Supporting People with Disabilities and Their Carers, Fostering Social Inclusion

  • The District Social Welfare Office continued to pay close attention to the needs of individual and families, as well as PWDs and their carers. The 2021 Caring Neighbourhood Sponsorship Scheme provided a chance for welfare services units and stakeholders in the districts to organise activities to foster social integration and help residents adapt to the new normal under the pandemic. The District Social Welfare Office is also committed to enhancing frontline workers’ understanding of PWDs through professional exchanges and visits.
  • The District Social Welfare Office continued its efforts to spread the message of family harmony and child protection. By working closely with stakeholders in the district, it organised a series of volunteer training sessions, activities, programmes and workshops to enhance the functions of families and promote social inclusion in 2021-22. Over 540 groups and programmes were organised during the year, attracting over 9 100 participants.
  • The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted citizens’ personal lives and family relationships. In view of this, the District Social Welfare Office teamed up with seven Integrated Family Services Centres to organsie a programme called “疫境同行．凝聚家庭”. 14 groups and activities were held under the programme to help citizens release their negative emotions and stress, promote quality family time, and strengthen families for the prevention of domestic violence. Photos and heartfelt feedback of the participants were collected for the production of 1 000 desk calendars, which were distributed to families in the districts to further channel positive energy.
  • The working group on rehabilitation service under the District Co-ordinating Committee on Rehabilitation Service organised the Recognition Ceremony for Carers of People with Disability 2021 on 19 November 2021. 30 carers of PWDs were awarded and 2 of them shared their experiences as carers in the ceremony. A physiotherapist from the Eastern District Health Centre Express led a workshop on pain relief exercises for all participants to encourage carers to pay attention to their own health.

Promoting Physical and Mental Wellness of Young People, Encouraging Multi-disciplinary Collaboration and Volunteer Service Development, Building a Caring Community

  • The District Social Welfare Office, in collaboration with over 10 youth service units and Integrated Community Centres for Mental Wellness (ICCMWs), continued to organise the school promotion programme on positive psychology, with a view to disseminating the message of cherishing life, positive thinking, resilience and a drug-free life, etc. through a series of programmes. Since 2020, tailor-made thematic workshops have been developed jointly with ICCMWs to enhance primary and secondary school teachers’ understanding of mental wellness, share tips on overcoming adversities and raise their sensitivity in order to provide early intervention for students with emotional needs. A total of around 2 700 students and more than 150 school personnel from eight primary and two secondary schools participated in these programmes.
  • The District Social Welfare Office is committed to encouraging people from different sectors to participate in volunteer work in order to build an inclusive community. The Briefing Session on the Promotion of Volunteer Service 2021 was held at Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre on 24 June 2021 with an attendance of about 60 participants. It served as a platform for volunteers to access volunteering information and opportunities provided by participating district welfare service units. Two-third of the participants registered as volunteers with different organisations on the spot.
  • The 2022 Volunteer Award Presentation Ceremony originally scheduled for 19 March 2022 was cancelled in view of the magnitude of the pandemic. To recognise the contributions of volunteers/volunteer groups/shops in the districts, the District Social Welfare Office issued and delivered Certificates of Appreciation to about 600 recipients of the Outstanding Volunteer Award, 19 recipients of the Outstanding Volunteer Group Award and 6 recipients of the Community Caring Shop Award. An electronic publication titled Special Edition of the 2022 Volunteer Award Presentation Ceremony was published to commemorate the achievements of the awarded volunteers.

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