SOCIAL WELFARE
196
The department has been operating an Opportunities for the Elderly Project since 1999 to provide subsidies to community organisations to plan and implement programmes to promote a sense of worthiness among elders and enhance community care for them. During the year, 274 programmes were implemented, with the approved grants amounting to $2.68 million. These programmes were complementary to the three-year Healthy Ageing Campaign launched by the Elderly Commission in 2001. In November, the department implemented a Central Waiting List for subsidised long-term care services. Applications for and allocation of subsidised long-term care services, including residential care services and community care services, are centrally coordinated by the department under the auspices of the Long Term Care Services. Delivery System. Applicants will be given a standardised assessment to ascertain their care needs and matched with appropriate services in accordance with the assessment results.
Community Support Services
Community support services are provided to elders who require assistance to continue living at home. Support is also provided for their care-givers. At year-end, there were 40 district elderly community centres, 60 district-based integrated home care services teams, one home help team, 18 enhanced home and community care services teams, 49 day-care centres/units for elders, 60 social centres for elders, 114 neighbourhood elderly centres, 40 support teams for the elderly and one holiday centre for elders. Under the Senior Citizen Card Scheme, 908 063 Senior Citizen Cards were issued by year-end. A total of 8 070 companies, organisations, government departments with 14 614 units and outlets, and 1 767 medical units with 1 972 branches participated in the scheme to provide concessions, discounts and priority services to senior citizens. An in situ expansion exercise was conducted in day care centres for the elderly to strengthen their allied health support and caring capability to provide a continuum of care for elders with different levels of frailty and dementia. A total of 220 additional day care places have been created in this exercise since April.
Residential Care Services
Residential care is provided for elders who need care in their daily living and are unable to live at home for various reasons. At year-end, there were 97 subsidised hostel places, 7 343 subsidised home for the aged places, 5931 bought places from private residential care homes for the elderly, 11 499 subsidised care-and-attention home places and 1 699 subsidised nursing home places.
The Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance, which provides legislative control over all residential care homes for the elderly (RCHES), has been in full operation since June 1, 1996. Upon all RCHES meeting the required licensing standard in 2002, a number of service improvement measures have been taken to further upgrade the service quality, particularly that of private homes. These initiatives include provision of subsidised training for RCHE staff, dissemination of information to the public and stepping up prosecution action against non-compliant homes.
To further promote the quality of residential care services for elders, the department commissioned the Hong Kong Association of Gerontology in July 2002 to conduct a two-year pilot programme on the development and establishment of an accreditation system for residential care services for elders. The pilot programme will be completed