Care and Respect for the Elderly

115. Over the past few years, we have bolstered our efforts to improve the quality of life for the elderly. We have achieved significant results in our drive to ensure they enjoy a sense of security, a sense of belonging and a feeling of health and worthiness.

116. We adopt an holistic, integrated and client-oriented approach in providing quality, long-term care services to those elderly in need. This year we will spend $3.2 billion on direct elderly services, a $1.5 billion increase over the $1.7 billion spent in 1997-1998. Apart from increasing resources for elderly services, we will also use our existing resources more efficiently to improve those services.

117. About 70% of elderly people live with their own families. It is a time-honoured tradition for children to support their parents when they are old, and we continue to encourage this. To allow our elderly citizens to better enjoy their golden years at home, we provide a range of home help and community support services that are proving very popular. By March next year, about 29 000 elderly people will have benefited from these services. If needed, we will continue to expand them.

118. Subsidised residential care places are provided for those who cannot be adequately taken care of at home. By March next year, 26 000 places will be available, a 70% increase over the 15 000 places in 1997. In addition, since March this year all private care homes have met licensing standards, an enormous improvement compared to the less than 1% of facilities that met these standards in 1997. Comparatively speaking, services provided by private care homes are now much better than before.

119. We endeavour to help the community to better understand the special needs of old age, and to promote healthy aging. This will help ensure the well-being of our senior citizens and the future elderly population. The Elderly Commission has recently launched a three-year 'Healthy Aging Campaign' to educate the public on the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle amongst the elderly. The Commission is also studying ways to enhance the image of elderly people, including helping them to pursue lifelong learning and to participate in social activities.