With the right assistance from social workers and young people, and the right programme, senior citizens can, too, serve people in need. They can be involved in support circles that empower them to develop personal potentials.
During the year, the Sheung Kung Hui Welfare Council’s Tseung Kwan O Aged Care Complex introduced the concept of a “time bank” to its Seniors’ Mutual Assistance Programme—Blessing Network, which reversed its members’ roles as beneficiaries, and encouraged them to discover their strengths, support one another, commit time to voluntary work and earn time credit in exchange for services (e.g. company for visits to the doctor, shopping, home repairs) and goods. Since its inception, the programme has achieved commendable results.
To promote the programme and share the concept of investing time, the complex organised an event in which social workers spearheading the programme and the programme’s consultants spoke about how it was executed. Elderly participants also talked about how they enjoyed mutual assistance in their support circle. The event featured booths which homemade snacks, crafts, and calligraphy by the senior citizens.
Ms Ko Ming Hui, Community and Health Manager of the Tseung Kwan O Aged Care Complex, who oversees the programme, said since it launched in September 2016, it has drawn 183 elderly members who invest time in voluntary work in return for services. For example, every minute of voluntary service would earn a member one point. Members can then use the accumulated points, which will be recorded in a special journal, in exchange for services, and, as a result, provide mutual assistance.
In addition to providing regular care services, she said, participants could also customise their services according to their peers’ needs, for example, accompanying them on visits to the doctor, giving participants calls to check up on them, carrying luggage on their behalf, conducting home repairs, dropping by for visits and buying groceries. On one occasion, a participant who wanted to pen their own autobiography met a fellow participant who happened to possess photography and photo editing skills. Together, they produced the first participant’s autobiography.
Describing the programme as an “experiment”, Prof. Terry Lam, programme’s consultant and Head of Department of Social Work and Social Administration, said if the programme could extend beyond Tseung Kwan O, it could well become a social phenomenon. He believed if existing services fail to catch up with Hong Kong’s ageing population, the city must evolve from its current status as a recipient society into a participant society. This means instead of being waited on, senior citizens should take up active roles in society to create the lives they desire.