*********************************************************

Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a reply by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Dr E K Yeoh, in the Legislative Council today (December 12):

Question:

Regarding the provision of residential services to the mentally handicapped, will the Government inform this Council :

(a) of the current total number of mentally-handicapped persons and, among them, the respective numbers of persons aged "between 50 and 59" and "60 or above";

(b) whether it plans to provide adequate residential places for the mentally-handicapped elderly; and

(c) whether, under the current stipulations, mentally-handicapped persons in residential institutions are required to move out upon reaching the age of 60; if so, of the residential arrangements for those who have to move out and whether it will consider abolishing the move-out requirement so as to save them the trouble of having to adapt to a new environment; if it will not abolish the requirement, the reasons for that?

Reply :

Madam President,

The policy objective of rehabilitation is to provide suitable services, support and assistance to people with disabilities so that they can develop their potential and participate fully in the community. For mentally handicapped persons, we adopt a holistic approach in the provision of services and support to meet their needs at different stages of their lives. These services include pre-school, special education and integrated programme, day care, vocational training and supported employment, as well as residential.

(a) Following a household survey conducted by the Census and Statistics Department on people with disabilities in 2000, it is estimated that the number of mentally handicapped persons in Hong Kong is between 62 000 - 87 000. However, this data does not contain an age profile.

Sixty of the 4 486 mentally handicapped persons currently living in Government run or subvented hostels and homes, are over 60 years of age. As regards those aged 50 to 59, they currently number 298.

(b) Over the next five years, we will increase the number of residential places for all mentally handicapped persons to over 6 200, representing an increase of over 29% from today. We envisage that with this planned increase in residential places, the residential needs of elderly mentally handicapped persons will be met.

However, not all elderly mentally handicapped persons require formal residential care. Accordingly, we will continue to enhance our services in terms of day care services. A recent example is our strengthening of the home-based training programme. The programme includes training in self-care skills and domestic skills and the provision of direct maintenance or support services. Apart from improving the staffing provision in the five existing teams, we will provide 13 additional teams to serve mentally handicapped persons throughout the 18 districts. The full year recurrent cost of this enhanced home-based training service is $60 million.

(c) Mentally handicapped persons are not required to leave their Home or Hostel upon reaching the age of 60. However, if their functional ability changes requiring a different level of care, they may be transferred to another more suitable facility. This will enable the individual to receive additional support and care. According to the Social Welfare Department, no mentally handicapped person over the age of 60 has been moved this year.

END/Wednesday, December 12, 2001

NNNN