‘They fell through the cracks’: how can Hong Kong better help mentally disabled people and their carers? Parents, experts want wider safety net for high-risk residents
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Every Friday, housewife Chan Cho-min, 66, waits for her daughter to return from a care home for the weekend.
Now 34, her daughter was found to have a severe intellectual disability and autism as a toddler. She also has diabetes and sleep apnoea – a disorder involving disrupted breathing during sleep.
Unable to speak properly or look after herself, she has been living at a care home for mentally disabled people since leaving a special educational needs school at 21.
But Chan said her daughter did not get proper care at the home, which was so understaffed that two carers looked after 50 residents.
Although she brings her only child home at weekends and whenever she is ill, it has become harder as she has grown older herself. Her 73-year-old husband is still working to support the family.
Four helpers she hired quit, finding the work too hard. Chan’s daughter screamed and was restless, needed help to be turned around during sleep and her diapers had to be changed.