Gov’t resorts to community efforts to address unnoticed deaths of single elderly residents

IAS director Hon Wai

Neighborhood business operators are encouraged to monitor elderly residents living nearby to improve care for elderly people who live alone.

Director for Social Welfare, Hon Wai, was asked about ways to improve care for such residents at yesterday’s Spring Lunch organized by the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS).

Earlier this month, authorities discovered the bodies of two elderly residents who lived together. The two are believed to have been deceased for about a year. The case was discovered when the landlord of the apartment – who had not received rental payments for that period – entered the apartment with the help of a locksmith and made the discovery.

Hon said that many elderly people habitually visit certain eateries or retailers for food or shopping. “Through these business operators, we might be able to pinpoint elderly residents who are worth special attention,” Hon said.

Friends and families should also regularly check in, according to the government.

Hon’s superintendent, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong, said that friends and families are in the best position to care for these elderly residents. “They may consider calling their elderly friends or family members regularly to show care and get updates on their condition,” Ao Ieong commented.

The government will explore technological solutions to improve services in this area.

Ao Ieong said that the government is considering the possibility of establishing a system that detects the movement of cellphones.

“Should a cellphone be physically static for an extended period of time, a notification will be sent to the government or community associations to approach the resident concerned,” Ao Ieong said.

She said that in the future, the government may request consent from Social Housing residents, so that government officials can access spare keys to their residences to perform a welfare check in an emergency.

When questioned about why the government did not utilize the annual Social Security life declaration to confirm the safety of elderly residents, Ao Ieong said that if the government relied on the annual declaration, it would be too late to identify most cases due to the annual nature of the declaration.

In 2020, there was a similar case in which a pair of co-residing elderly residents were found to be deceased by their neighbors. Ao Ieong said that the government did not have any information about this case.

Meanwhile, in response to questions about the expansion of services at the new Cotai hospital, the social affairs official said that in March, certain medical check-up services will be available at the new medical facilities.

However, the official stressed that these services are not publicly available, and require a referral by the Health Bureau (SSM). Once these services become available, certain imaging and scanning services that currently see long queues at the public Conde de São Januário Hospital will have their patients diverted to the new hospital.

The slow roll-out is attributed to the need to test the new hospital’s extensive information system. Once the medical checks operations come into effect, specialist out-patient services will be available as early as May this year.

Last December, when the new facilities entered trial operations, its Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department was criticized for having only the most basic equipment and being only able to provide minimum services.