'More support needed for ethnic minority elderly'

The Hong Kong Christian Service (HKCS) on Wednesday said more than half of ethnic minority carers lack confidence in mainstream care services, according to its survey. The organisation conducted the survey from November to April this year, and collected 250 questionnaires, 200 from elderly folk and 50 from carers. With 10 being the highest confidence level, over half of ethnic minority carers gave only 1 to 5 to mainstream care services. Almost 90 percent of elderly and carers have never used mainstream care services which are mainly provided by the government. Viola Tsang, HKSC's service head, said this was worrying especially given the population of ethnic minority elderly people in Hong Kong was expected to increase by 160 percent, according to population census. Jackie Chan, supervisor of HKCS's Centre for Research & Development, said that among the small 10 percent who had used mainstream services, almost 30 percent said the language barrier was very problematic. This sentiment was echoed by Nanda, a 33-year-old Nepali women, who said that notices should be offered in English as well, especially for important information. Tsang added that pre-existing translation copies were not sufficient. "More audio broadcasts or even to translate the public information into easy-to-read and simple way in different ethnic language is also very helpful for them to access the public service." Other recommendations by HKCS include more bridging services, multicultural sensitivity training for mainstream care providers, and an ethnic minority specialised team with more ethnic minority staff.