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The Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Elderly Commission have jointly launched the two-year "Pilot Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project - Prevention of Elderly Suicide" to disseminate the message of cherishing life among elders, identify and support elders with suicidal tendency, and step up suicide prevention work through neighbourhood support networks.
With the support of the Hospital Authority, the Department of Health and the Social Welfare Department, the Labour and Welfare Bureau and the Elderly Commission organised a briefing today (April 24) for the participating organisations to enhance their understanding of elderly suicide and the handling measures.
The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said, "The higher suicide mortality rate among elders as compared to those of other age groups deserves our attention. Research shows that understanding the causes of suicide acts, providing community support services such as outreach programmes for elders with suicidal tendency, and disseminating more information on community services to them will help prevent elderly suicide.
"We have therefore allocated $5 million to implement 33 district projects from this month to prevent elderly suicide. Participating organisations will make use of the initiative's programme funds to develop new support networks or expand and enhance existing ones, identify and support elders with suicidal tendency at an early stage, and promote the message of cherishing life and suicide prevention to the elders and their families.
"At present, there are already different resources in the community that provide services to elders with different degrees of suicidal tendency. The new initiative will further improve these services and strengthen ties and co-ordination among service units to facilitate cross-sectoral collaboration."
Speaking at the briefing session, the Chairman of the Elderly Commission, Dr Leong Che-hung, thanked the participating organisations for their support. He believed the initiative would promote active ageing and encourage elders to lead an enriched life.
The participating organisations will organise activities with other groups regularly to promote the concepts of active ageing and neighbourhood support, and encourage introverted elders or those with suicidal tendency to actively take part in community activities through more active elders and volunteers. Social workers and other professionals will also offer supportive services to elders in need.
On the other hand, when elders with emotional problems or suicidal tendency are discharged from hospitals, medical social workers will assess their condition and refer them to the district projects under "Pilot Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project - Prevention of Elderly Suicide" or to the "Community Mental Health Intervention Project" service teams operated by non-governmental organisations for timely and appropriate follow-up services.
The "Community Mental Health Intervention Project" service teams will arrange outreach visits, counselling and group activities, etc. for elders with mental health problems or suicidal tendency, and help these elders establish neighbourhood networks, thus assisting them to integrate into the community again. If necessary, the service teams can refer cases to the participating organisations of the "Pilot Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project - Prevention of Elderly Suicide" district projects for follow-up and support.
Furthermore, the district projects under "Pilot Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project - Prevention of Elderly Suicide", "Community Mental Health Intervention Project" service teams and medical social workers will recommend or assist elders in need to apply for the Personal Emergency Link Service operated by the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association. Apart from providing support during emergency, the Association will also enhance communication with elderly users through telephone calls, provide interim emotional support, community services information and referral services.
The "Elderly Suicide Prevention Programme", set up by the Hospital Authority in each cluster, will continue to take referral cases, and give speedy and appropriate mental health diagnosis and treatments to elders with suicidal tendency.
The "Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project" was launched in early 2008, and the existing two initiatives are "Pilot Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project" and "Pilot Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project – Caring for Elders". The launching of the "Pilot Neighbourhood Active Ageing Project – Prevention of Elderly Suicide" will bring the total number of district projects to 75.
Ends/Friday, April 24, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:51
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