I refer to the article "Huge study on care of disabled revealed" (January 22).
I once visited a centre providing services for the intellectually disabled, and what I saw were old facilities, few workers but a large number of disabled people, most of whom were elderly. It was clear the resources could not fully meet their needs. Hong Kong has no coordinated approach to elderly care and rehabilitation services. These problems need to be addressed immediately.
It is important to balance the needs of the different stakeholders, and the government should weigh the pros and cons of any plan before going through with it.
The aged parents who look after their intellectually disabled children have hard lives, since they usually have some health problems themselves, and are usually not so mobile. Meanwhile, the rehabilitation services are likely located far from their home, which increases the burden on them.
Some people criticise the Social Welfare Department for not redeveloping the rehabilitation centres, but this requires a large sum of money. The department has limited resources and it is already providing allowance payments for the disabled. Still, there's more it could do within its means.
The department should look into where the majority of the disabled people and their aged parents live, then focus on building or redeveloping the rehabilitation centres in that area. For example, if many are in Sham Shui Po, then a service centre could be built there. The department can take a step-by-step approach.