Symposium on Preparation for the Second World Assembly on Ageing REINVENTING AGEING

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Symposium on Preparation for the Second World
Assembly on AgeingREINVENTING AGEING

• Mr. Patrick Nip
• Deputy Secretary
• Health and Welfare Bureau
• 31 January 2002
• 0

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POPULATION AGEING

• We are in the midst of a silent revolution that
  extends well beyond demographics, with major
  economic, social, cultural, psychological and
  spiritual implications.
• Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of UN

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DEMOGRAPHIC REVOLUTION

• By 2050, one third of the worlds population is
  over age 60.
• Industrial revolution and technological
  revolution impacts are loud and clear
• However, the demographic revolution has so far
  aroused little interest though its effects are
  far-reaching

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AGEING TREND IN HONG KONG

• Number and percentage of people age 60 and above
• 1991 (Census) 716,901 (13)
• 2001 (Census) 1,000,849 (15)
• 2016 (Projected) 1,593,800 (20)

• Elderly dependency ratio
• 1991 124
• 1996 142
• 2001 154

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RESPONSE OF THE HKSAR

• Established the Elderly Commission (EC) in 1997
  to advise Government on policies and services for
  elders

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POLICY OBJECTIVE

• To improve the quality of life of our elders,
  ensuring that they will enjoy

A sense of security A sense of belonging A
feeling of health and worthiness
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AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT OUR COMMUNITY HAS ACHIEVED

• Financial support for older people
• Better housing for older people

• Long-term care services
• - home and community care
• - residential care

• Active and healthy ageing

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EXPENDITURE FOR ELDERS

• In the past few years, the Government has
  substantially increased expenditure for elders
• Recurrent expenditure on direct welfare services
  for elders has doubled from HK1.6 billion in
  1997-98 to HK3.2 billion in 2001-02

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Financial Support for Elders
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FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELDERS

• Three Pillar Approach as recommended by the
  World Bank for old age financial protection -
• First Pillar A privately managed mandatory
  provident fund
• Second Pillar Private savings, investments and
  annuities

Third Pillar A social safety net to provide
financial protection to needy elders to meet
their basic needs
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FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELDERS

• Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA)
  Scheme to provide financial assistance to needy
  elders
• At present, about 15.5 of our elders aged 60 or
  above about 160,000 persons are receiving
  assistance under CSSA, with average monthly
  payment of 4,000, accounting for 57 of the
  total CSSA caseload
• Expenditure HK7.2 billion in 2001-02, 53
  increase compared with HK4.7 billion in 1997-98

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FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELDERS

• Old Age Allowance (OAA) to meet special needs of
  the elderly
• - Aged 65 69, monthly payment of HK625
• - Aged 70 or above, HK705

• As at end December 2001, 458,000 older persons
  receiving OAA, representing 60 of the population
  aged 65 or above
• Expenditure HK3.9 billion in 2001-02, about 20
  increase compared to HK3.2 billion in 1997-98

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FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELDERS

• Altogether over 600,000 older persons receiving
  either CSSA or OAA
• - 61 of the population aged 60 or above
• - 78 of the population aged 65 or above

• Expenditure HK11 billion in 2001-02, about 40
  increase compared to HK7.9 billion in 1997-98

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FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ELDERS

• Committed to providing financial protection for
  our elders
• Target objective in the coming years is to
  develop a sustainable social safety net that
  better targets resources at those needy elders to
  meet their basic needs, and which takes account
  of local circumstances, especially our low and
  simple taxation system

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Better Housing for Elders
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BETTER HOUSING FOR ELDERS

• 56 of elders living in public housing
• The number of elderly households on waiting list
  for public rental housing (PRH) significantly
  reduced from 16,000 in 1997 to the present 9,960,
  with a steady supply of PRH and priority in flat
  allocation
• All elderly households which registered for PRH
  before end March last year will be allocated
  flats before end 2003

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BETTER HOUSING FOR ELDERS

• Households with elderly members are allowed to
  opt for flats in urban districts so as to allow
  elders to continue to age in a familiar
  environment
• A pilot scheme in August 2001 to offer rent
  allowance to elderly applicants with waiting time
  of one year to enable them to rent private sector
  accommodation meeting their personal preference

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BETTER HOUSING FOR ELDERS

• Design
• A mix of flats including hostel-type and
  self- contained small flats are allocated to
  elderly according to their preferences

• Ageing in Place
• Exploring the use of universal design and
  provision of integrated care services in rental
  estates with a high concentration of elderly
  residents

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BETTER HOUSING FOR ELDERS

• A pilot scheme, Senior Citizen Residence Scheme,
  by the Hong Kong Housing Society to give elderly
  people in the middle income group access to
  affordable, purpose-built accommodation with
  integrated care services
• Developing a pilot scheme to encourage the
  private sector to provide elderly housing

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Long-term Care Services
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LONG-TERM CARE SERVICES

• To provide quality long term care services in a
  comprehensive, client-centred and integrated
  manner to frail elders
• - Home and community care and support
• - Sustainable and quality residential care

• Guiding principles
• - Ageing in place
• - Continuum of care

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HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE

• To assist elders to meet their preference to age
  at home and to enable families to continue to
  assume the role of carers
• To move towards a more appropriate mix of care
  from institutions towards the community
• Implemented a standardized care need assessment
  mechanism since November 2000

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HOME AND COMMUNITY CARE

• 29,000 elders (about 60 increase compared to
  1997-98) will be served by a range of home and
  community care services by this March
• Will expand the new enhanced home and community
  care services and re-engineer existing services
  to benefit more frail elders
• Continue to strengthen support to family carers
  by involving more service units in delivering
  carer support services, including respite services

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SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY RESIDENTIAL CARE

• To develop a sustainable and quality residential
  care system with participation from
  non-governmental organizations and the private
  sector
• To improve cost-effectiveness, increase users
  choice via a mixed mode of service provision and
  enhance manpower training

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SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY RESIDENTIAL CARE

• 26,000 subsidized residential care beds (62
  increase compared to 1997-98) by this March
• All private care homes (over 500) have been
  licensed since last March, compared to about 3
  in 1997-98

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SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY RESIDENTIAL CARE

• Premises-led approach in the provision of quality
  residential care home for the elderly (RCHE)
  premises
• Government will continue to identify
  purpose-built RCHEs, such as in PHEs, and select
• operators through open tender with
• participation from
• both NGOs and the
• private sector

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SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY RESIDENTIAL CARE

• Proposed Scheme to encourage provision of RCHE
  premises in new private developments

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SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY RESIDENTIAL CARE

• Proposes to exempt eligible purpose-built RCHE
  premises in new private developments under lease
  modification, land exchange and private treaty
  grant from calculation of gross floor area and
  assessment of premium of the development
• In return, the developer will have to pay the
  full cost of constructing the RCHE premises,
  which will become the properties of the
  developers but remain for the exclusive use of
  RCHEs only

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SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY RESIDENTIAL CARE

• Will seek to further improve the quality
  standards of RCHEs above licensing requirements
• Will research on quality assurance measures
• One option could be in the form of accreditation
  of homes

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SUSTAINABLE AND QUALITY RESIDENTIAL CARE

• Continuing with our efforts to strengthen
  manpower training

• Initiatives include
• - to expand multi-skilled training of care
  workers
• to train 2,160 care workers from 2001-02 to
  2005-06
• - to enhance training for frontline workers and
  professional staff serving demented elders
• 1,440 places from 2002-03 to 2005-06

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Active and Healthy Ageing
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ACTIVE AND HEALTHY AGEING

• Much disability and ill health in later life are
  preventable. A life-course approach to promote
  active and healthy ageing in the community, not
  only for the current generation of older
  population, but also for the future generations

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ACTIVE AND HEALTHY AGEING

• The Elderly Commission has launched a three-year
  Healthy Ageing Campaign to promote active and
  healthy ageing with four strategic directions

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ACTIVE AND HEALTHY AGEING

• 18 elderly health centres and 18 visiting health
  teams are in place to provide preventive and
  promotive medical services to elders

• 36 support teams set up to provide social
• networking and outreaching services to
• vulnerable elders. Over
• 56,000 vulnerable elders
• have been identified for
• support services

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ACTIVE AND HEALTHY AGEING

• We have been encouraging senior volunteerism and
  lifelong learning among elders so that elders can
  achieve a sense of worthiness as they age.
• 10,000 elders have been recruited as volunteers

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A SUMMARY

• Over the past few years, we have put in a lot of
  efforts to review and re-engineer direct services
  for elders, in areas of housing, home and
  community care and residential care etc.
• We have been adopting a preventive and
  life-course approach in promoting healthy
  lifestyle and a positive image of ageing

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WHAT NEXT?

• We need to continue our efforts to further
  improve the services for our elders, having
  regard to their care needs and individual
  preferences
• We need to continue to mobilize the community,
  not just the current generation of older
  population, but also the future generations, to
  adopt an active and healthy lifestyle

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WHAT NEXT?

• Looking ahead
• To meet the changing needs of an ageing
  population
• To prepare ourselves, both individually and
  collectively, to face the challenges presented by
  this significant demographic change

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WHAT NEXT?

• Looking ahead .
• To improve the communitys understanding of
  ageing as a natural, continuous and positive
  process
• To encourage public and social institutions to
  embrace and enlist the experience and energy of
  older persons for the benefit of both the society
  and themselves

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WHAT NEXT?

• To reinvent ageing .

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REINVENTING AGEING

• A recognition that
• Population ageing presents challenges as well as
  opportunities
• Ageing is a natural, lifelong, and positive
  process
• Most older people are healthy and independent.
  Only a small proportion are frail and requiring
  special care.
• It is a societal wide phenomenon not only
  pertaining to older people

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REINVENTING AGEING

• Current policies and institutions have been
  designed with a youthful society in mind.
• From now on, we need to plan and design with an
  ageing society in mind.
• New mindsets and concepts

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REINVENTING AGEING

• Implications for change span across a very wide
  spectrum

- planning - lifelong learning - housing
- leisure - environment - health maintenance
- employment and long-term care etc
- retirement
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REINVENTING AGEING

• Adjustments must be made by individuals,
  families, communities and the government
• Society to create conducive environment to enable
  older people to continue performing roles that
  fulfill themselves personally, socially and
  economically.

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Elderly Commission Workshop held in November
2001 on RETHINKING POLICY, REINVENTING AGEING

• A positive understanding of older people and of
  ageing by the wider society
• To build an ageless society/a society for all
  ages that does not rigidly define age nor create
  age-barriers

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Elderly Commission Workshop held in November
2001 on RETHINKING POLICY, REINVENTING AGEING

• Focus on positive ageing to look at older people
  not simply as individual needing help but as
  people having much to offer and wanting to give
• A barrier-free and age-integrated environment
  that enables all-age access and
  multi-generational encounters

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EC SYMPOSIUM AND EXHIBITION

• Challenges and Opportunities of
• an Ageing Population
• - 8 June 2002 -

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EC SYMPOSIUM AND EXHIBITION

• Public and social institutions need to embrace an
  ageing society and adjust mindset and policies to
  meet the changing needs of an ageing population
• To focus the community on reinventing the concept
  of ageing and rethinking the challenges and
  opportunities of an ageing population
• Macro and forward looking
• Intergenerational, cross-sectoral and
  multi-disciplinary

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MAIN THEMES OF THE EC SYMPOSIUM

• National framework and strategy for an ageing
  society overseas experience
• Ageing population economic and business
  perspectives
• Reconstruct the image of ageing
• Remodel the living environment
• Reinvest in ageing
• Refocus the health maintenance system

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REINVENTING AGEING, RETHINKING POLICY

• The EC Symposium and Exhibition is just a start
  with a view to focusing community discussion on
  the challenges and opportunities of an ageing
  population
• We have a long way to go, need concerted efforts
  of individuals, the community and the government

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THANK YOU!