LettersHong Kong carers need greater care: talk must give way to solid support

The Legislative Council’s panel on welfare services has just discussed support to caregivers – people taking care of the elderly, the disabled and children with learning difficulties. After long years of caring for others, they may feel exhausted. But society does not provide enough support to these caregivers. This can lead them to suffer from great stress, which one day may explode and lead to horrific tragedies.

Last year, a grandmother killed her six-year-old grandson with a hyperactivity disorder, presumably because she didn’t know how to take care of him. There was another case of an old man who killed his paralysed wife, because he was afraid nobody would take care of her after he passed away. Why are these tragedies happening? What’s wrong with our social welfare system?

Many caregivers have no day off, particularly those who cannot afford to pay for help or lack a support group of family and friends. This is particularly true of a family of two elderly people, a typical case of “the old taking care of the old”. They have one nightmare: that they may pass away first, leaving the other alone.

Caregivers of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) face another raft of problems: complaints at school, children being isolated by classmates and temper tantrums, among others. Psychiatric treatment in public hospitals could involve waits of nearly two years. Some parents are afraid their kids may be suicidal. Some sell their homes to pay private medical fees. Some parents may get depressed, creating a vicious circle. Moreover, schools and social workers may not have the proper training to deal with such children.

The Community Care Fund does have a pilot scheme that provides an allowance for low-income carers of the disabled. However, there are many conditions for application. For example, the disabled must be on the waiting list for one of the specified rehabilitation services subsidised by the Social Welfare Department. Meanwhile, the carer must not be a recipient of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Old Age Living Allowance, and must go through a means test.