Support scheme started training workers in mid-2024 and is expected to serve over 3,000 people
A HK$290 million (US$36.9 million) support project has been launched to provide end-of-life care to Hong Kong’s disabled residents, with organisers expressing hope that it will plug a critical service gap while empowering the community.
The five-year initiative, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, is expected to serve more than 3,000 physically and intellectually disabled people, those in mental recovery and about 4,000 carers, and builds on a decade-long support project targeting the elderly.
Professor Amy Chow Yin-man, project director and head of the department of social work and social administration at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), said on Monday that the end-of-life care model for the disabled was underdeveloped worldwide.
“In the past, there was little space for end-of-life care for disabled people because many were diagnosed with a terminal illness very late … primarily due to struggles in communicating their health conditions,” she said.
“But their needs started to be seen and catered to when their life expectancy grew longer, and more societal resources were available.”
Under the new scheme, frontline workers from 10 non-governmental organisations started receiving training from mid-2024 to deliver support services, ranging from advance care planning to life and death education, primarily in care home settings.
