Featured image: Mr. Gregory So (right), The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, interacts with a senior during his visit to the Po Leung Kuk Sai Ying Pun Home for the Elderly, August 21, 2015. Credit: Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, HKSAR.
The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) announced last Friday the launch of a new round of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Outreach Programme for the Elderly with the services extended to cover elderly people with dementia.
The OGCIO launched the Outreach Programme in 2013 to provide funding support to non-profit-making organisations for conducting visits and activities that aim to arouse awareness and interest of elderly people in using ICT and eventually help broaden their social circles and improve quality of life. Over 3 000 elderly people have participated in the past two rounds of the Programme.
In the new round of the Programme, three non-profit-making organisations, namely the Po Leung Kuk, the Hong Kong Society for the Aged and the Salvation Army, will operate their respective activities for 12 months with
funding support from the OGCIO totalling HKD$1.5 million. In addition to institutionalised and “hidden” elderly people, and those receiving day-care centre and home-care services, elderly people with dementia will also be served with a view to helping them slow down the deterioration with the aid of digital technology.
A spokesman for the OGCIO said, “Technological advancement not only spurs economic development, but also provides opportunities to improve the quality of life of elderly people in particular. The Government has been striving to implement various digital inclusion initiatives to encourage wider ICT adoption among the elderly in order to arouse their interest in the digital world, such as social media, so as to promote active and healthy ageing.”
The spokesman added, “With reference to experience gained in the first two rounds of the Outreach Programme, we have extended the Programme to cover elderly people with dementia, so as to take care of those with special needs.”
The OGCIO openly invited applications from non-profit organisations between June and August 2017. Three applications have been selected for implementation from November 2017 to November 2018.
For details on the list of funded projects, click here.
