Hong Kong health experts urge authorities to set up database for elderly, take proactive measures to prevent late-life suicides
- Stronger support network needed for elderly taking care of family members despite being ill, expert says
- Man, 80, died in alleged murder-suicide attempt inside Shek Mun MTR station toilet on Tuesday, while disabled wife with dementia survived
Hong Kong health experts have urged authorities to establish a database for the elderly at risk of taking their own life, among other proactive measures to identify “hidden” older adults, after an 80-year-old man died and his disabled wife was found unconscious in an alleged murder-suicide attempt.
Crystal Yuen Shuk-yan, a former government mental health adviser, on Thursday said a stronger support network was needed for elderly people taking care of their family members despite being ill.
Yuen, also an organiser at the Society for Community Organisation, called on authorities to create the database using the information they had on older adults living in public rental housing or receiving the government’s elderly CSSA payments or Old Age Allowance.
“For those who are not included in this list, we will need more time and effort to go knocking door-to-door to identify elderly people in need,” Yuen told a radio programme.
Requirements for ageing carers applying for aid should also be relaxed, she said, adding financial pressure was a leading cause of their stress.
