Green light for plan allowing more Hongkongers to ‘age in place’
Districts will set ratios for elderly facilities and people will be encouraged to join contributory savings schemes
The government says it will implement recommendations in the city’s first master plan for elderly services, including setting a district-based ratio for facilities and identifying sites at residential developments in advance to meet soaring demand.
The plan also urged the government to look into contributory savings schemes such as long-term care insurance to relieve the financial strain caused by the rapidly ageing population.
A spokesman for the Labour and Welfare Bureau said: “The [plan] reaffirms our existing policy of ‘ageing in place as the core, institutional care as back-up’.”
The Elderly Services Programme Plan, formulated by the Elderly Commission after public consultation, identified the key challenges as a surge in service demand coupled with a shrinking workforce and fewer family carers; an expectation of more choice among the elderly and autonomy in using services; and the need for increasing expenditure.
So the commission focused on ways to encourage “ageing-in-place” – allowing the elderly to exercise their choice to live and age in a familiar environment – and ensure financial sustainability.