Dementia training planned for Hong Kong’s property managers and security guards in Elderly Commission initiative
As number of those afflicted with disorder is projected to balloon in the city, officials believe frontline staff from different sectors should be made aware
Property managers and security guards in Hong Kong will get trained in handling dementia as part of a high-level government campaign to tackle the citywide problem.
Revealing the plan to the Post, Elderly Commission chairman Dr Lam Ching-choi said he hoped the efforts would better equip frontline service staff who often encounter senior citizens, as he described past programmes provided by NGOs as “piecemeal”.
“There is a dementia tsunami within the silver tsunami we are facing,” he added.
“We may not be able to handle the volume if we continue to adopt the traditional approach of offering services to people with dementia in community centres while sending those who are in serious condition to care homes.”
Lam also noted elderly people who were identified as suffering from dementia might suffer from a “medical stigma”.