Abstract: Palliative care service is a growing trend for patients with terminal illnesses. The purpose of palliative care service is to improve the quality of life for the patients and their family by providing comprehensive care such as symptoms control, pain relief and counselling support. More and more people prefer to spend the final stage of their life in a comfortable environment with adequate care. Palliative care service in Hong Kong is inadequate and enhancement of the service is needed. This review paper aims to evaluate the current development of palliative care service in Hong Kong and suggest improvement of the service. Literature review of published research studies has been conducted. Compare to other countries or regions, the existing palliative care in Hong Kong is lagging behind the international standards. This study reveals that the system in Hong Kong is lacking of comprehensive policy, thus limiting the organisations to provide the service in small-scale operations, and resulting in fragmentation of the co-operation between the public and private sectors. Factors such as professional training, community engagement, culture and financial issues are affecting the adequacy of palliative care service. To facilitate the development of palliative care service for patients who are in need, initiating palliative care guideline, expanding professional education and training, increasing government funding to organisations that provide palliative care and increasing public awareness about the service are recommended.
Abstract: Information technology keeps advancing and the use of smartphone and social media has not been widely adopted in the elderly population. The Government has initiated different programmes to promote and enhance the quality of life among older adults. Benefits of using smartphone and social media mainly include maintaining communication with families and friends, finding entertainment, receiving informal education, and enhancing healthcare and safety. However, the elderly gave mixed comments on the use of information technology. Some elderly perceived new technology adoptions as being complicated and difficult to use and non-user-friendly design. Cost-effectiveness and privacy are also barriers to them. To change attitudes of the elderly, the government may cooperate with non-government organisations to organise more promotional activities. Family members and the manufacturers can also assist the elderly by improving cybersecurity and creating a simple and easy-to-use design.
Abstract: Water is vital for maintaining one’s life but dehydration is a prevalent condition among the elderly, particularly during and after admissions to hospitals and nursing homes. Elderlies are vulnerable to dehydration from risk factors such as age-related impairment, chronic diseases and medications. Dehydration among the elderly can be prevented by paying more attention to their fluid intake. Education and reminders to the elderly are also useful in encouraging them to maintain fluids intake. This review paper summarises some diagnostic measurements of dehydration among the elderly. Some recommendations to elderly carers are also suggested.
Abstract: Elderly can improve their well-being and achieve healthy ageing by utilising effective gerontechnology. There are some barriers and challenges that hinder the development and utilisation of gerontechnology in Hong Kong, including the inadequate awareness of the importance of technology in elderly healthcare, limited resources invested in the market, and lack of human resources. Hong Kong government has launched more funding schemes to encourage collaborations with different sectors including universities, research institutions, non-governmental organisations and businesses to participate in gerontechnology market. The development of gerontechnology is relatively small in Hong Kong and more efforts are needed to discover the potential in this market. This paper evaluates the current support for gerontechnology in Hong Kong and concludes with some recommendations on its future improvements.
Abstract: Public awareness for rare diseases has increased in recent years in Hong Kong as patients suffer from long diagnosis process, misdiagnosis and limited financial subsidy for expensive medications. These challenges negatively affect patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life as they continuously suffer from a prolonged period of clinical investigations by different specialists before a diagnosis can be made. The costly and time-consuming process, as well as the lack of experienced clinical genetics professionals are major challenges of rare disease management in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government adopts an approach of “case by case” instead of formulating a definition of rare disease. New regulations have been performed by the Hospital Authority such as increasing funding for Hong Kong Children’s Hospital for early detection and diagnosis, and review on drug formulary. International collaborations like research and sharing of information is believed to bring optimal benefits for rare disease patients and caregivers, as well as to promote best practices in policy field.
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