Projects
Safe & Healthy Elderly Homes
As the population ages, an increasing number of elderly homes are being established in HK where premises with cheaper rent could be found. In Kwai Tsing District, there are over 40 homes providing 3,000 residential places for the frail elders. Most of the homes are privately owned and the standards vary greatly. Some are poorly managed and create a lot of suffering to the poor elderly.
Back in 1999，the first safety program for elderly home was organized in collaboration with the OSH Council, Fire Services Department, KTDC and PMH. In May 2003，at the end of the SARS epidemic, a group of PMH nurses were sent to all elderly homes to provide guidance in isolation precautions, infection control practices, hand hygiene and the proper use of PPE.In 2004，the Safe and Healthy Elderly Home program was launched together with KTDC, OSH Council, Social Welfare Department and PMH. The program included safety training for the care workers, consultancy on home management, and provision of safety and health information kits. Site visits were also included as part of the accreditation process. A set of criteria with 33 items were designed; incorporating environmental hygiene and safety; staff safety awareness; fire safety and infection control in the safety management system. Awards were given to recognize those homes with outstanding performance. The checklist for a safe and healthy elderly home is attached in Appendix 4.
In the past years, many elderly homes had participated in the program: 19 homes in 2004, 31 homes in 2005 and 46 homes in 2006. A total of 34 OSH Ambassadors had been recruited from PMH as volunteers to help the homes implement the safety and health management system. 32 training sessions were conducted for more than 300 care workers in the years from 2004 to 2006. Topics included the OSH ordinance, manual handling operations, drug safety, infection control and fall prevention. A total of 22 elderly homes had completed the program and successfully accredited by the Association to be Kwai Tsing Safe and Healthy Elderly Homes
Through the close collaboration with the OSH Council in organizing the Safe and Healthy Elderly Home program, the OSH Council had recently taken up the scheme and developed the Hong Kong Safe and Healthy Residential Care Home Accreditation Scheme. At the inaugural ceremony, our previous Gold Award winner, Geri Care Nursing Home shared their experiences with the audience. Many of the participants were from Kwai Tsing. In the coming year, KTSCHCA will continue to support the elderly homes in its bid to obtain the accreditation by OSHC through carer training and consultancy organized by the OSH Ambassadors.
