SLW visits elderly care facilities in Tokyo (with photos)

     The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, today (August 5) visited a number of public and private organisations providing elderly-friendly services in his visit to Tokyo, Japan.
 
     Dr Law first visited the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for Social Welfare and Public Health to learn more about its work on promoting the use of gerontechnology. Together with the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Mr Bernard Chan, and the Executive Director, Charities and Community of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr Cheung Leong, he toured an exhibition hall where a wide range of aiding equipment catering for different needs of elderly users in both residential and community care settings was displayed and available for rental. He then visited an integrated elderly care facility of Social Welfare Corporation Zenkoukai and was briefed on how technology has been applied to improve staff deployment to deliver more efficient care services for elderly persons, including patients with dementia and those with poor health or disabilities.
 
     In the afternoon, Dr Law had lunch with clients of a day care centre for the elderly and was pleased to hear about their daily lives in the centre. He then proceeded to Future Care Lab in Japan under the same operator where he took the opportunity to see tailor-made food products for the elderly. The food texture has taken into account nutrition needs, safety and swallowing difficulties of the frail elderly while the taste is delicious.
 
     Dr Law also attended a panel discussion on care food to hear presentations by Japanese experts on elderly care food from the healthcare sector, academia and the trade on the importance of rehabilitation nutrition. While giving an outline of elderly policies in Hong Kong, Dr Law pointed out that the blend of nursing care and technology was of great reference value to Hong Kong in developing a more sustainable service model for elderly care.
 
     He will meet with more representatives of the care food business this evening to discuss the promotion of care food supply and will continue with other visits in the following two days.