An analysis of the decision-making process within households in relation to the residential care services for the elderly in Hong Kong

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun-ying, Maria Sin
2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gigi Lam

PurposeHong Kong implements a policy for the aging population involving the core themes of “aging in place as the core,” “institutional care as backup” and “continuum of care.” Encouraging elders to live independently at home is a top priority, and elders who are not able to live at home independently are provided with various residential care services, namely Hostels for the Elderly, Homes for the Aged, Care and Attention (C&A) Homes for the Elderly and Nursing Homes (NHs). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the adoption of the publicly funded model of providing residential care services of elderly in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachThe paper analyzes the current conundrum encountered by elders in residential care services and makes recommendations. A comprehensive literature review was conducted covering relevant government reports, academics' journal papers and nongovernmental organizations’ reports concerning residential care service of elderly from 1965 to present.FindingsSubsidized residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) clearly outperform private RCHEs in terms of space and staff provisions, but the supply of subsidized RCHEs cannot meet the demand. Hence, between 2007 and 2018, the average waiting time was 33 months for NHs and that for C&A homes was 23 months. Several viable measures to meet the demand are purchasing Enhanced Bought Place Schemes (EBPSs) from private RCHEs, subsidizing elders who opt for living in private RCHEs by providing them with Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and residential care service voucher (RCSV) and subsidizing elderly applicants who opt for living in RCHEs in Guangdong. However, these viable measures are problematic because of the inadequate quality of EBPSs and private RCHEs, which is attributed to the costing arrangement of public and private RCHEs that were established in the colonial period. The brief history of RCHEs also indicates a deviation from the original policy aim, namely aging in place, which was introduced in the Green Paper on Services for the Elderly in 1977.Practical implicationsThe supply and quality of community and home care services should be thoroughly examined; effective community and home care services can prevent and even delay unnecessary institutionalization. Another complementary solution is to devise a long-term plan for residential care services. To address disparities in quality standards in different RCHEs, adopting the combination of punitive and compliance models such as conducting frequent inspections and implementing an accreditation system for private RCHEs is imperative.Originality/valueAlthough the principle of “aging in place” originated in 1977, the institutionalization rate 6.8% of elders was unexpectedly high in Hong Kong and even surpassed the Asian counterparts. It necessities to rethink how to implement policy concerning long-term care services of elders.


2000 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ng Sau Fun Frency ◽  
Hui Chi Leung Patrick ◽  
Choy Lin Foong May

This study analyzes the decision-making process for selecting and purchasing clothing of 81 people in Hong Kong who are visually impaired. Data were collected through personal interviews. The results show that problems such as unsatisfactory sales services and insufficient clothing information still exist for people with visual impairments (both the group with blindness and the group with low vision), and also reveals that people who are visually impaired have different views on the relative importance of selection criteria for purchasing clothing than do their sighted peers.


2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1277-1299 ◽  
Author(s):  
YANG CHENG ◽  
MARK W. ROSENBERG ◽  
WUYI WANG ◽  
LINSHENG YANG ◽  
HAIRONG LI

ABSTRACTThe demand for residential care by older people is increasing in Beijing as a result of dramatic demographic and socio-economic transformations. Little is known about the way older people access residential care in the context of Beijing. In this research, qualitative data collected from 46 in-depth semi-structured interviews with residential care facility (RCF) managers, older residents, and their family members in six RCFs in Beijing were transcribed and analysed using the constant comparative method. The findings included the following themes: access to residential care as geographical access, information access, economic access, socio-cultural access, and the socio-managerial environment. Geographical access is influenced by location, distance, and the micro-physical environment and amenities of RCFs. Information access refers to the capability to acquire related information on available resources. Economic access is the financial affordability for the resources. Socio-cultural access is affected by individual attitudes and aggregative cultural values on ageing and care of older people. Additionally, the social-managerial environment such as reputations of RCFs, quality of services, and management mechanisms are also important to the decision-making process. All these factors influence older people and their family members’ decision-making process of which RCF to choose. The research provides a multi-perspective analysis of access to residential care and suggestions on improving the accessibility of residential care for older people in Beijing.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 852
Author(s):  
Jaime A. Rincon ◽  
Angelo Costa ◽  
Paulo Novais ◽  
Vicente Julian ◽  
Carlos Carrascosa

Recent studies show that the elderly population has increased considerably in European society in recent years. This fact has led the European Union and many countries to propose new policies for caring services directed to this group. The current trend is to promote the care of the elderly in their own homes, thus avoiding inverting resources on residences. With this in mind, there are now new solutions in this direction, which try to make use of the continuous advances in computer science. This paper tries to advance in this area by proposing the use of a personal assistant to help older people at home while carrying out their daily activities. The proposed personal assistant is called ME3CA, and can be described as a cognitive assistant that offers users a personalised exercise plan for their rehabilitation. The system consists of a sensorisation platform along with decision-making algorithms paired with emotion detection models. ME3CA detects the users’ emotions, which are used in the decision-making process allowing for more precise suggestions and an accurate (and unbiased) knowledge about the users’ opinion towards each exercise.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gopal C. Kowdley ◽  
Nishant Merchant ◽  
James P. Richardson ◽  
Justin Somerville ◽  
Myriam Gorospe ◽  
...  

The proportions both of elderly patients in the world and of elderly patients with cancer are both increasing. In the evaluation of these patients, physiologic age, and not chronologic age, should be carefully considered in the decision-making process prior to both cancer screening and cancer treatment in an effort to avoid ageism. Many tools exist to help the practitioner determine the physiologic age of the patient, which allows for more appropriate and more individualized risk stratification, both in the pre- and postoperative periods as patients are evaluated for surgical treatments and monitored for surgical complications, respectively. During and after operations in the oncogeriatric populations, physiologic changes occuring that accompany aging include impaired stress response, increased senescence, and decreased immunity, all three of which impact the risk/benefit ratio associated with cancer surgery in the elderly.


2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 2-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Delgado ◽  
Vânia S. Pinto ◽  
João M. S. Carvalho

In the contexts of family neglect or maltreatment, the State intervenes by safeguarding the development and well-being of the child or young person in danger. In more severe situations, the intervention may lead to the child’s removal from the family. The Portuguese Law on the Protection of Children and Young People in Danger (Law 142/2015 of September 8th) favours the placement of the child in a family environment, especially for children up to the age of six. Despite this, in Portugal, in 2015, 8 600 children were in out-of-home care, only 3.5% of which were placed in foster care, while the remaining children were in residential care. Therefore, one of the fundamental rights of the child – living in a family environment – is compromised in practice. This study aims to understand the decision-making process of 200 higher education students in domains related to child protection, and those of 200 professionals who are responsible for providing case assessments and recommendations for intervention in the Portuguese child protection system. Using the Child Welfare Attitudes Questionnaire (Davidson-Arad & Benbenishty, 2008, 2010), the study aimed to identify the participants’ attitudes regarding removal of at-risk children from home, reunification and optimal duration of alternative care, children’s and parents’ participation in the decision-making process, and assessment of foster care and residential care, with the purpose of promoting children’s development and well-being. We concluded that both sets of participants (professionals and students) can be divided in two groups, one which is pro-removal and the other, which is less so. In comparison with students, professionals less often favour the removal of the child and more often defend reunification. There are no significant differences among participants regarding their opinion about the role of foster and residential care, and the participation of the child in the decision-making process. However, professionals tend to support parents’ participation in the decision-making process more than students do. Finally, we present some implications of our findings for the practice of child protection.


2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (12) ◽  
pp. 863-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Ubachs-Moust ◽  
R Houtepen ◽  
R Vos ◽  
R ter Meulen

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