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Highlights of the Year 2021-22

Community Care Services for the Elderly

  • Day Care Services
    The Social Welfare Department (SWD) continued to identify suitable premises through a multi-pronged approach to increase the number of day care places for the elderly. As at 31 March 2022, there were 93 day care centres/units for the elderly (DEs/DCUs) across the territory providing a total of 3 836 day care places. A total of 5 199 elderly persons, including full-time and part-time users, were receiving day care services at these DEs/DCUs. In addition, there were 49 DEs/DCUs providing a total of 228 designated day respite places with an aim to relieve the stress of carers so that they may take short-term breaks or attend to other matters when necessary.
  • Home Care Services
    To strengthen support for frail elderly persons to age in place, SWD provided an additional 3 000 service places under Integrated Home Care Services (IHCS) (Frail Cases) in October 2020 and April 2021. As at 31 March 2022, 31 Enhanced Home and Community Care Services (EHCCS) teams provided a total of 9 245 service places, and 61 IHCS teams provided a total of 4 120 services places for frail elderly persons. The IHCS teams also provide ordinary case services for elderly persons, persons with disabilities (PWDs) and individuals and families with social needs requiring only personal care, simple nursing care and/or other support services. EHCCS and IHCS also provide various support and assistance for carers.
  • Pilot Scheme on Home Care and Support for Elderly Persons with Mild Impairment
    Funded by the Community Care Fund (CCF), a 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, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating Integrated Home Care Services (Ordinary Cases) (IHCS(OC)) assess the elderly persons waitlisted for IHCS(OC) within their service areas, and provide those eligible for the Pilot Scheme with home-based community care and support services. The Pilot Scheme has been extended for 25 months until the end of December 2022. SWD will regularise the Pilot Scheme starting from January 2023, with an estimated 4 000 service places available to elderly persons in need.
  • Pilot Scheme on Support for Elderly Persons Discharged from Public Hospitals After Treatment
    Funded by CCF, a three-year Pilot Scheme on Support for Elderly Persons Discharged from Public Hospitals after Treatment (the Pilot Scheme) was launched in February 2018. Under a medical-social collaboration model, the Pilot Scheme supports elderly persons newly 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, thus enabling them to age in place in a familiar community and preventing their premature admission to long-term residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs). The Pilot Scheme has been extended for 32 months from February 2021 to the end of September 2023. Starting from October 2021, the Pilot Scheme has been implemented under a new mode of operation to provide transitional care services for elderly persons in need by three selected service operators in 10 hospitals across three Hospital Authority (HA) clusters.
  • Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly
    SWD continued to implement the third phase of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher (CCSV) for the Elderly. The total number of CCSVs have been increased to 8 000 since October 2020. The Pilot Scheme provides an additional choice for eligible elderly persons under the funding mode of “money-following-the-user”. As at the end of March 2022, there were 238 recognised service providers providing 3 950 centre-based service places and 11 424 home-based service places. The Pilot Scheme is open to application from all eligible elderly persons on the Central Waiting List for Subsidised Long Term Care Services. It allows frail elderly persons to choose the service providers and service packages that best suit their needs, and thus supports their ageing in place.

 


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