Hong Kong: community care for elderly people

Abstract

For a society with a strong family system and Confucian ethic, the idea of community care for elderly people seems most appropriate. This discussion examines some of the issues raised by the application of community care in Hong Kong by referring to the findings of recent local research. It finds that the "community' caring for the elderly are in fact simply family, who generally get little help from neighbours and service networks. The present application of the policy is judged a failure, but with the needs of the lone elderly so great, little help is likely to be forthcoming in the future for hard-pressed family carers. -M.Amos