Care for the Elderly
81. The elderly are important members of families. Family members play a major role in taking care of the elderly. We need to strengthen mutual support among family members and improve their ability to look after the elderly. We will strengthen training for carers of the elderly and provide them with information on elderly services. We will also enhance the counselling services at district elderly community centres. In addition, we will provide more day care places for the elderly. We will increase home care services in support of families living with frail elderly people in certain districts. A trial scheme to provide one-stop support services to elderly dischargees, including rehabilitation, home care and carer support services, will be launched in Kwun Tong early next year.
82. Some elderly people live in relatively poor communities without family support. Their dilapidated homes imply poor quality of life and domestic safety problems. We will earmark one-off funding of $200 million to help improve their homes in the next five years. The Labour and Welfare Bureau will, in collaboration with the SWD, examine the arrangements to implement this measure. We hope that this initiative will encourage our citizens to care more about the elderly in need, enabling the culture of caring for the elderly to take root in our community.
