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Govt set to strengthen elderly outreach services

The Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, today (Friday) underlined the need for the Government, non-governmental organisations and the community as a whole to do more to reach out to elderly persons, particularly those living alone, and to encourage them to continue an active life in the community.

"Being more a part of the community, they will be less vulnerable in times of difficulty," she said.

Speaking at the press conference on the new health and welfare funding for 1996/97. Mrs Fok said the Government would launch two initiatives to achieve these objectives.

First, the 24 existing multi-service centres for the elderly and the six new ones due to come on stream in 1996/97 will be allocated over $17 million under a two-year pilot project to organise new ways of reaching out to elderly people at risk.

Additional staff will be provided specifically to mobilise resources in the community to help contact and support vulnerable elderly people living in their respective districts. Running parallel to this, the Government will conduct a 15-month consultancy study on elderly needs.

"At the end of the study and the pilot project, we shall be well placed to review how best to take forward the development of elderly outreach services", Mrs Fok stated.

The second initiative seeks to foster social networking by co-ordinating, through District Social Welfare Officers, the resources of non-governmental organisations, the Home Affairs Department, Housing Department, district boards and other district-based organisations.

Local groups and organisations will now be invited by the Social Welfare Department annually to put forward new ideas and projects they have developed which will strengthen the links between the elderly themselves and between them and their local community.

On the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme, Mrs Fok spoke at length explaining the various improvements recommended by the Steering Group set up to review the scheme in March 1995.