Over 50 million people are afflicted with dementia in the world. This figure will likely increase to 152 million by 2050 according to Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). Dementia is a disease that worsens with age. According to HKADA, it is estimated that 1 in 10 people aged 70 and above and 1 in 3 people aged 85 and above suffer from dementia (https://www.hkada.org.hk/types-of-dementia) . In many societies with ageing population such as Hong Kong, dementia is a serious looming threat

As a leading tele-based elderly services providers in Hong Kong, Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (‘SCHSA’) aims to provide a system of comprehensive and personalised services to support dementia patients and their caregivers. Today SCHSA is proud to announce the launch of its ‘Care-on-Call Brain Health Navigator Scheme’. A two year project, the Scheme will ride on the foundation of SCHSA’s 24/7 Care-on-Call Service including its Care-on-Call Smartwatch, and introduce a number of new services to help the daily living of the dementia patients and their families including caregivers.

Photo 1: Ms. Maura Wong, CEO of SCHSA stated, the two-year ‘Care-on-Call Brain Health Navigator Scheme’ hopes to make an addendum to provide dementia-related support and services for middle-class people.

Ms. Maura Wong, Chief Executive Officer of SCHSA, said, “We extrapolate there could be around 14,000 dementia patients among our 74,000 service users but currently our records indicate only 1,500 confirmed or suspected cases or roughly 10%. This means there could be a vast number of undetected cases especially among seniors aged 70 or up. If this pattern is representative of the larger society, we could be talking for every one confirmed dementia elderly out there, there could be another 8-9 undetected patients that are not receiving proper diagnosis and care – something that the Association is quite concerned about.”

While some dementia patients and their caregivers may have access to government subsidised community support, patients from middle class background may find it difficult to access necessary services. Care-on-Call Brain Health Navigator Scheme aims to fill this gap. Details of the two year project are as follows: 

• 24/7 support covering emergency aid & integrated care – the Care-on-Call Service Call Centre team has received training from HKADA to support dementia patients, especially for supporting their emergency needs during night-time. Our service team can soothe patients’ emotions, provide location search of patients and get in touch with wandering users through emergency burst calls.
• Our Care-on-Call Smartwatch is designed to be user friendly for dementia patients. It can be equipped with a voice ringtone recorded by a caregiver or family member to soothe the patient. The SOS button is a prominent gold button for easy identification. The navigation menu of the watch can be swiped via up-down instead of left-right finger motion. The Smartwatch also has an accurate location positioning function supported by four different systems.
• SCHSA’s unique Vigilance Service, providing proactive detection of user movement, emergency burst call and low batter alert.
• ‘Leave home/ Back home alert’ signals*, so that caregivers may learn about the users’locations in real time
• In order to facilitate early detection and follow-up of dementia, our Care-on-Call Service team can provide quick assessment via telephone to our service users at no additional fee.  Users can also get more detailed assessments covering full cognitive function, home safety, and caregivers’ stress. Our registered nurses can also make necessary referral for suspected patients to receive doctor diagnosis and blood test.
• Existing Care-on-Call Service users or families may call to make appointment for a quick assessment for any cognitive impairment. 
• Caregivers of dementia patients can suffer from caregivers’ stress. To support the caregivers, SCHSA’s Active Ageing Services (AAS) offer a total of six workshops to help caregivers learn how to communicate with dementia patients, embrace and take care of themselves, react to patients’ violent emotions, do care planning, manage stress, form healthy relationship. There are also various workshops that can equip caregivers with techniques of mindfulness or information regarding community resources. Caregivers will learn how to handle the patients’ as well as their own emotions and by doing so relieve their stress and find breathing space for themselves again. SCHSA presently offers new users diagnosed with dementia the opportunity to try AAS caregiver support services for free.
• Through EasyHome Services, SCHSA also provides at-home care and occupational therapy to relieve caregivers’ of their responsibilities.                  

*Applicable to Care-on-Call Smartwatch only

To further raise public awareness of dementia, SCHSA has contributed HKD100, 000 toward a mooncake charity sales by the Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease in September. All proceeds, after deducting costs, shall be used to fund the Foundation’s operations. Mrs. Gwen Kao, the Chairman of the Foundation, said, “In another decade, everyone will know someone, a friend or a neighbour with dementia. Learning to care for a dementia patient is a never-ending process that can take years, even decades. I am delighted to see the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association extending their already comprehensive services to include dementia patients and their caregivers. The Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease fully supports the ‘Care-on-Call Brain Health Navigator Scheme’, and I hope more dementia patients and their caregivers could benefit.”

Photo 2: SCHSA donated HK$100,000 to support the Mooncake Charity Sales of Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer's Disease. Ms. Maura Wong (Left), CEO of SCHSA presents a cheque to Mrs. Gwen Kao (Right), the Chairman of the Foundation, who expresses her full support for the ‘Care-on-Call Brain Health Navigator Scheme’ and is optimistic about its benefits for dementia patients and their caregivers.

SCHSA has produced a mini-movie titled She Did Not Forget to promote public awareness of dementia. Through a relationship between aunt and niece, roles played by Ms. Helena Law and Ms. Sheren Tang, the movie tells the story of how love can transcend the threat of dementia between patient and caregiver. It highlights the importance of overcoming stigma and denial to get early detection and take action.
 

About Care-on-Call Service

Care-on-Call Service, operated by Senior Citizen Home Safety Association ('SCHSA'), is the most comprehensive and a leading 24/7 support service in Hong Kong, covering emergency aid, integrated care, around-the-clock guard, health management, active ageing services and day-to-day living assistance. 

Scope of Care-on-Call Service

About Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (‘SCHSA’)

Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (‘SCHSA’) was founded in 1996 as a non-profit charitable organisation with a self-financing model. Today it is one of the most established social enterprises in Hong Kong. SCHSA provides Care-on-Call Service, a comprehensive 24/7 support service in the territory consisting of emergency aid, integrated care, around-the-clock vigilance service, health management, active ageing services and day-to-day living assistance. Our mission is to enable all service users to age in place with a quality life by incorporating technology and innovation in our people-centric services.