158 | Health
The Hospital Authority spent $800 million on community health services in the 2008-09 financial year. In 2009, it conducted 822 600 home visits to elderly homes and 939 600 to patients with mental problems.
Over 80 per cent of those receiving community nursing care are elderly people. Community Geriatric Assessment Teams make regular visits to residential care homes for the elderly (RCHES) to assess residents' medical needs and to provide them with treatment. They also train RCHE staff to improve their service quality. To strengthen the support for elderly people discharged from hospital, the Hospital Authority launched an Integrated Discharge Support Trial Programme for Elderly Patients in March 2008.
The programme aims to reduce the unplanned hospital re-admission rate of high-risk discharged elderly patients through better planning and introduction of a 'one-stop' post-discharge arrangement. It also aims to relieve the stress of carers by providing them with the relevant training and support services.
It is expected that 20 000 elderly people and 7 000 carers will benefit from the programme. Another improvement is the stationing of more community nurses at care centres and NGOs to provide on-site care.
Extended care hospitals provide specialist programmes for the rehabilitation of pulmonary, orthopaedic, geriatric and cardiac patients, while short-term rehabilitation programmes are provided for discharged patients in day and outpatient clinics. Integrated palliative day care centres provide a full range of services for reducing the pain or stress of patients with incurable illnesses.
Dental Health
Eight school dental clinics run by the Department of Health provided preventive dental services including annual dental check-ups and basic dental care to about 347 000 primary students in the 2008-09 school year, or about 94.3 per cent of the total number of primary school children in Hong Kong.
In addition to the 11 government dental clinics that provide basic dental services to the general public for pain relief and tooth extraction, the department also offers specialist oral healthcare services in seven public hospitals to inpatients and others with special oral health needs. The department also monitors the level of fluoridation in water supplied to the public to reduce dental decay.
Mental Health
The Government is committed to promoting good mental health and advocates a multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral team approach in providing comprehensive mental health services to those in need on a continuous basis, including early identification, treatment, rehabilitation and community support.
Resources allocated by the Government to mental health services have been increasing over the years bringing the average annual expenditure to $3.6 billion in 2008-09.
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