Social Isolation Among Hong-Kong Elderly

By Megan

Hong Kong, the eighth most densely populated city with a population of 68,400, is facing an alarming social issue with the social isolation amongst its elderly population. With over 1.45 million residents ages 65 and above, the demographic is experiencing high levels of loneliness and disconnection. Even though it’s one of the most densely populated populations, how did this social isolation come to be and what kind of solutions have been made to amend the problem? 

Social isolation is the state in which an individual lacks a sense of belonging socially, through lack of engagement with others and not being able to have fulfilling and quality relationships. Some causes of social isolation are having a mental or physical challenge, being discriminated against, having limited access to resources, being a victim of violence/abuse, or facing a tragic event. Some of the causes of population aging have to do with family changes as the youth demographic tends to migrate towards cities, leaving the need for support, care, attention to health problems, and need for financial security to arise among the aging population. 

A common scenario is when a child leaves their parents house  after being married to start their own lives away from their parents, leaving a smaller family for the parents and less resources of care to be seen with supporting their parents. Another scenario with the migration of youth is when a child leaves to gain more opportunities, in the past migration would be very rare but unfortunately today younger generations tend to move farther away making it more difficult for elderly to secure  financial stability. According to National Library of Medicine, the frequency of married children to visit their parents tends to be greatest with once in every two months having 37%. However, how did this situation begin to occur in Hong Kong? 

When Covid-19 changed the world in 2019 it caused protocols to be implemented with mandatory masking and quarantining those affected. Hong Kong’s covid death rate was higher than anywhere else with 1 death per every 20 infections. Hong Kong followed the same protocols as mainland China with a “zero covid” policy to ensure that infections were kept as low as possible. With the social distancing that had been practiced it had led to isolation for everyone, especially for the elderly who were mainly living on their own at the time. 

At the time due to increased amount of infections hospitals had to deal with an influx of patients quarenting to the point of protests occuring. These protests eventually led to suicide attepts due to severe isolation. Mental health issues began to rise especially for the elderly as those who had been facing isolation in care homes or in small flats for 2 years. According to Washington Post, the number of elderly living alone had increased by more than 50 percent from 2006 to 2016. Additionally, the closure of centers for elderly and other recreational facilities which many relied on if they were living by themselves as a means of communication with others and care for. 

With long-term isolation and numerous death reports it increased the fear of getting infected by covid for elderly. To protect citizens from harmful repercussions if they were to get infected, vaccines were provided but only 66% percent of seniors had chosen to be vaccinated while the remaining percentage had feared for the side-effects of the vaccine. Furthermore, with the isolation, elders are unable to get their questions answered because they do not want to bother their children who are now adults and not living with them anymore. This invokes worries in the medical professional who were actively seeking citizens to come to them to receive help with suicide prevention ⅕ of the people that had reached out were elderly. 

Some of the resources that were provided by Hong Kong to its elderly were the elderly services programme, telehealth services, community care services, caritas Hong Kong, Hong Kong Council of Social Service, and elderly-friendly smartphones. The elderly services programme allowed seniors to continue to live by themselves although with a personal assistant to help them with daily tasks. The telehealth services allowed for remote healthcare services for elderly. Community care services increased the funding for community-based care services. The Caritas Hong Kong launched Elderly Support Service which gave emotional support and assistance. Hong Kong Council of Social Services implemented the Elderly Mental Health support project that reduced the stigma associated with mental health issues and provided community-based care. Finally, elderly-friendly smartphones were made to help with the digital divide and allowed seniors to communicate remotely. 

With the impact of Covid-19 not being as severe as it was before, the repercussions of isolation among the elderly has lowered but is still present. Now programs exist like intergenerational home-sharing and co-locating elder care and child care. The intergenerational Home-Sharing matched elderly hosts with students who offer companionship and assistance with daily tasks. The co-locating elder care and child care facilities have integrated elderly services with child and youth care to help with connecting different generations. These programs have shown benefits and the elderly are able to avoid isolation as drastically as it was before.

Works Cited

Social Welfare Department: Home, https://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index.html. Accessed 25 October 2024.

“Hong Kong - Caritas.” Caritas Internationalis, https://www.caritas.org/where-caritas-work/asia/hong-kong/. Accessed 25 October 2024.

“The Hong Kong Council of Social Service.” 社聯, https://www.hkcss.org.hk/?lang=en. Accessed 25 October 2024.

“Hong Kong Population 2024 (Live).” World Population Review, https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/hong-kong. Accessed 25 October 2024.

“Social Isolation and Loneliness Definitions and Measures - Addressing Social Isolation To Improve the Health of Older Adults: A Rapid Review.” NCBI, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537897/. Accessed 25 October 2024.

Yu, Theodora. “Isolated and vulnerable amid the covid crisis, some of Hong Kong's elderly are taking their own lives.” Washington Post, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/17/hong-kong-covid-suicide/. Accessed 25 October 2024.

Z, Ismail, et al. “The Impact of Population Ageing: A Review.” National Library of Medicine, 2021, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9577145/. Accessed 25 October 2024.

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