Preferred Provisions of Quality and Adequate Healthcare Services to Elderly in Hong Kong

The elderly need food and constant medical attention among other needs. There has been a notion that children need to take care of their ageing parents and ensure that they are as comfortable as possible. Nevertheless with the changing society, it has become extremely challenging creating so many gaps in caring for the elderly. in as much as the younger would want to care for the elderly, the task sometimes is very stressful and financially demanding forcing the young to join the workforce so that they can afford to pay for the health care and other needs of the elderly. it is therefore a need for the government to come in and help seal the gap in the care of the elderly.

This includes community care and services (CCS), residential care services (RCS), as well as social security. However, the shooting ageing population has greatly compromised the quality of this services hence this is an issue that needs to be looked into before it goes out of proportion. Data from census and statistics department (2015c)shows that currently, the population of the elderly stands at 1. 12 million people of the age of 65 years going upwards in Hongkong. it goes ahead to highlight that the figure will go up to 2. This is aimed at appropriately matching the needs of the frailed elderly with the service providers such as the community care services or the residential care services. If eligible applicants meet all the requirements but there may not be subsidised services at that moment, they may be put on the social welfare department central list to await for the appropriate time of admission.

This is usually done on a first come first served basis. Residential care services are mostly offered to the elderly who do not receive adequate and quality care at home or who cannot be sufficiently be taken care of in their homes. The service is provided at the private and public levels, though the government does not directly get involved in the provision of the services, it does that through offering subsidy, the government offers subsidy to the contractors who may have been chosen to come up with residential care homes for the elderly. All the care homes providers who offer accommodation be it sub vent, contract self-financing or private, are supposed to be licenced under the residential care homes. Hong Kong government has been emphasizing on the need for the residential care homes for the aged owners to join independent services quality accreditation scheme, but the challenge has been lack of the accredited scheme, this has made the owners to seek alternative schemes.

We have three main recognised schemes offering accreditation but despite of this, only 65 out of 738 of the residential care homes for the elderly providers have been accredited. Government is aiming to improve the services offered by the residential care homes that are private and offer services to the elderly especially providers who are not in the elderly bought –places scheme. It has done this by launching a pilot residential care services aiming at improving the quality of the private sector offering the services. This includes lack of proper labor man power, long duration of waiting and reduced efficiency due to high demand. However, community care services is generally preferred by many elderly people as it allows them to continue living in their own homes instead of them joining an institution.

The government in conjunction with the labour sector should also consider importing workers to help offer quality and adequate care to the elderly. A survey conducted in 2008 indicated that 81. 4% of the elderly persons residing in domestic households desired to continue staying at home instead of relocating into care homes for the elderly that offer accommodation even if their health condition was not good. Since there are no rules regulating lively ageing in Hong Kong There’s a hierarchy of the diverse phases at through which the active ageing is scheduled to be executed by the government in Hong Kong. It is set to take place at individual levels where This are at the individual level where additional senior-friendly accommodation: a minimum of 10 Active old age Hubs are to be constructed in future as well as HDB advances which support active ageing agendas together with a day care assisted living services as well as day rehabilitation.

Old age friendly transport means and infrastructure have been set up at both city and community level. This is to make the transport for the elderly more age appropriate. Focus should also be given on making social amenities more elderly friendly such as in parks, exercise equipments and the therapeutic gardens If all the policies listed above can be of great importance if proper methods of follow up can be adopted by the government. as individuals, it is paramount for us to work together in a truly inclusive society. This will enable the old to age gracefully. Works Cited (www. gov. hk), GovHK. "Hong Kong Must Improve Elderly Care Before Discussing Euthanasia. " South China Morning Post, 6 Apr.  2018, www. scmp. com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2101724/hong-kong-must-first-improve-its-elderly-care-euthanasia-can.