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Nearly all the 259 subsidised programmes under the Opportunities for the Elderly Project (OEP) introduced by the Social Welfare Department last year (1999) achieved the objectives as expected.

An evaluation study found that 93.2 per cent of the programmes had satisfactorily achieved the aim of promoting a sense of worthiness among the elderly, with the satisfaction levels of the service-users and the participating volunteers at 90.5 per cent and 89.9 per cent respectively.

The study was conducted by the Evaluation Task Group which was set up by the Advisory Committee on the OEP last June to explore the achievement of the objectives of the programmes and to examine the effectiveness of the funding application and allocation mechanism.

Headed by Dr Howard Cheng Chi-ho of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the study revealed that the elderly people had shown their active role in the OEP programmes as 56 per cent of the total of 9,291 participating volunteers were elderly people.

In addition, the attendance of the service-users reached 263,772, among which 149,703 were the elderly.

It was also found that the varied nature of the programmes could meet the various needs and interests of the volunteers and the elderly people from all walks of life in different age groups.

The three-year OEP, which was launched from 1999 to 2001, was granted an amount of $11 million by the Lotteries Fund to finance the programmes.

As regards the operation of the OEP in the coming two years, the Evaluation Task Group also made a number of recommendations for making improvements, which include:

- to involve more volunteers of different age groups so as to cultivate a community spirit of care for the elderly and successful aging;

- to accord priority to programmes that provide support service to vulnerable elderly and promote intergenerational family relationship;

- to conduct regular public briefings on the intrinsic value and importance of active elderly people in the community; and

- to enhance the concept of "intergenerational volunteering".

The Evaluation Task Group will continue to evaluate the 292 subsidised programmes under the OEP to be held this year (2000).

End/Saturday, July 29, 2000

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