A survey released on Thursday found elderly carers in Hong Kong are at "high risk" of having physical, as well as mental health problems. The Hong Kong Council of Social Service surveyed along with the University of Hong Kong's Sau Po Centre on Ageing, and they are now asking the government to give better support for those who are taking care of elderly.
The survey involved 1,115 participants (average age 70), and found out that 25 percent of carers taking care of their elderly family members had three psychosocial health problems at the same time - considered as the "high risk" group. This group reported having "poor family function" or weak relationship with their family, having depression symptoms, and experiencing a heavy burden for caregiving.
According to Dr. Vivian Lou Wei-qun, who is the director of the HKU center, carers who have such emotional burden may cause them to not being able to perform their role in caring their family members. She added that they might likely send the recipient to hospitals, they may feel ill or may commit homicides.
"They would do lots of things outside of their rational decision-making," Lou said.
There are eight factors that contribute to the heavy stress on carers, including worries about finances and elderly's weak health. As per the South China Morning Post, the city recorded last years at least three tragedies wherein the carers killed ill family members that needed heavy levels of care. Shiu Ka-chun, who represents the social welfare sector in the Legislative Council, said the biggest concern regarding these incidents is whether carers need sufficient care as well.
The survey approached carers from 33 Neighbourhood Elderly Centres and 29 District Elderly Community Centres in Hong Kong. Although the research team didn't check for the specific age group of the carers, they found that the average age of the carers was 70, in which 35 percent was 75 or older.
Meanwhile, about 27 percent were taking care of in-laws or parents, and almost 70 percent were taking care of spouses. Also, 41 percent of carers said they poor or very poor sleep quality, while 58 percent spend 40 hours per week on caring elderlies (equivalent to a full-time job).
The government should now make a step to support carers, said Emily Leung Hoi-yan - the chief officer in elderly service for the council. She said there should be regular household surveys among carers and elderly so the government would understand their needs. The financial support for carers should be improved as well so they can ease the financial burden.
