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Highlights of the Year 2019-20

Community Care Services for the Elderly

  • Day Care Services
    SWD continued to identify suitable premises through a multi-pronged approach to increase the provision of day care services for the elderly. As at 31 March 2020, there were 80 day care centres/units for the elderly (DEs/DCUs) in the territory providing a total of 3 408 day care places, with an increase of 168 places as compared with that as at 31 March 2019. A total of 4 804 elderly persons, including full-time and part-time users, were receiving day care services in these DEs/DCUs. Extended Hours Service would also be implemented in new DEs/DCUs in the evening of weekdays and daytime of weekends/public holidays according to district needs. This aims to relieve the stress of carers, in particular for those who have long working hours or ad hoc engagements that temporarily prevent them from taking care of the elderly persons.

    To increase the provision of day care services, SWD launched the Bought Place Scheme on Day Care Units for the Elderly, which aims to set up DCUs at qualified private and self-financing RCHEs through purchase of places from them. It provides a total of 120 day care places for the elderly, involving 7 eligible RCHEs. The Scheme was originally scheduled to commence in March 2020, but it was postponed to May 2020 due to the epidemic situation of COVID-19.
  • Home Care Services
    SWD has provided an additional 2 000 places under the Enhanced Home and Community Care Services (EHCCS) since October 2019 with a view to helping frail elderly persons to age in place. As at 31 March 2020, a total of 9 245 places were provided by 34 EHCCS teams, and a total of 1 120 places for frail cases by 60 IHCS teams to strengthen, through an integrated mode of services, the care for frail elderly persons who have been assessed to have moderate or severe level of impairment under the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services with the aim of enabling them to age in place in a familiar community. EHCCS and IHCS (frail cases) also provide support to carers with a view to strengthening family cohesion. The services include basic and special nursing care, rehabilitation exercises, environmental risk assessment, personal care, elder sitting and carer training and support services, etc. The 60 IHCS teams also provide ordinary case services to elderly persons, persons with disabilities and individuals and families with social needs requiring only personal care, simple nursing care and/or other support services (e.g. general household or domestic duties, escort, meals delivery, etc.).
  • Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly
    SWD implemented the second phase of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly in October 2016. The Pilot Scheme facilitates eligible elderly persons with moderate or severe impairment to choose the service providers and the service packages that suit their needs and support ageing in place for elderly persons under “money-following-the-user” funding mode. SWD further issued 1 000 additional vouchers from October 2019 onwards to bring to a total of 7 000 vouchers.
  • Pilot Scheme on Home Care and Support for Elderly Persons with Mild Impairment
    The three-year Pilot Scheme on Home Care and Support for Elderly Persons with Mild Impairment was launched in December 2017 by SWD. Under the Pilot Scheme, NGOs operating integrated home care services (ordinary cases) (IHCS(OC)) will assess the elderly persons waitlisted for IHCS(OC) within their service areas, and provide elderly persons eligible for the Pilot Scheme with home-based community care and support services.
  • Pilot Scheme on Support for Elderly Persons Discharged from Public Hospitals After Treatment
    The three-year Pilot Scheme on Support for Elderly Persons Discharged from Public Hospitals after Treatment was launched in February 2018. Under a medical-social collaboration model, the Pilot Scheme supports elderly persons just discharged from public hospitals who are in need of transitional care and support by providing them with transitional residential care and/or community care and support services. It aims at enabling them to age in place in a familiar community and preventing their premature admission to long-term residential care home for the elderly (RCHEs).

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