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HA reaches out to elderly through community medical teams
Two Deputy Secretaries for Health and Welfare, Mrs Shelley Lau and Mr Robert Wilson, today (Thursday) joined the Community Geriatric Assessment Team of Kwong Wah Hospital in their visit to Chi Lin Care and Attention Home in Diamond Hill to see for themselves how the Hospital Authority provides reaching-out services direct to elderly persons in residential institutions.
"Mr Wilson and I have started working closely together to monitor the implementation of the 71 recommendations of the Working Group on Care for the Elderly. This represents the new integrated approach Government has adopted in providing health care and welfare services for the elderly," Mrs Lau said.
The Kwong Wah Hospital's Community Geriatric Assessment Team, which is headed by a Consultant Geriatrician, Dr Chan Ming-hung, is one of the five teams now operating under the Hospital Authority to provide out-reach medical services to senior citizens requiring regular health care services but do not need hospitalisation.
Members of the team include doctors, nurses, social workers and allied health professionals.
During the visit, Mrs Lau and Mr Wilson learned that the service had been very successful and was welcomed by elderly persons. They also learned that the Hospital Authority had plans to establish three more teams in the coming year to provide more comprehensive coverage to elderly persons in the community.
Accompanied by the Deputy Director (Operations and Service Development) of the Hospital Authority, Dr Dickson Chang, Mrs Lau and Mr Wilson first observed how elderly persons were assessed by the Community Geriatric Assessment Team.