Service Concept
Most elderly people would like to spend the rest of their lives at home, yet home accidents are common among them. Age-related deterioration could be a reason making elderly more prone to home accidents, if the existing home design fails to meet the needs of elderly. In fact, the risk of accidents can be reduced through professional assessment and the modification of existing home environment.
The Elderly Resources Centre (ERC), the first of its kind in Hong Kong, was set up by the Hong Kong Housing Society in 2005. Through education, health screening, professional consultation and research by Occupational Therapist and Social Worker, ERC aims to promote the concept of “age-friendly home” so that “ageing in place” can be achieved.
ERC set up Mind-friendly Home Exploration Centre in late 2017, first of its kind in Hong Kong, to show applications on how to adopt a friendly home design for people with dementia, so as to support care-givers and facilitate elderly with dementia to live happily and independently.
According to the "Social Return on Investment" study on ERC conducted by the Hong Kong University, HK$3.18 of social value generated for every HK$ 1 invested in ERC, that bring significant benefits to elders, caregivers as well as the society as a whole.
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Service Delivery Concept
"Age-friendly home” is a home suitable for the elderly in terms of environment, lifestyle and ageing process, ensuring a safe and comfortable living in their late years. As people grow old, they are faced with different challenges from deterioration. Adjustments made to the elderly lifestyle and home environment will help them meet their changing care needs and remain in their own homes as long as possible.
1. Environment：
It includes home and outdoor design and facilities as well as relevant home services that cater for different needs of the elderly.
2. Ageing Process：
In the natural ageing process, there are changes in senses, cognition, physical functioning and psychological condition.
3. Elderly Lifestyle：
The elderly people have their own preferences, habits and patterns of behaviour.
Elderly can create their own Age-Friendly Home, even though they are facing different changes in physical or cognitive functions during ageing process.
"Make your own Age-Friendly Home" Video
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| Concept | To create "age-friendly home", which help elderly to achieve "ageing in place" |
| Target Group | Elderly |
| Action | To help elderly to cope with challenges due to physical changes, with home design, gerontechnology products and assistive devices |
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FAQs on Age-Friendly Home
Q1. What changes do elderly face during ageing process？
Elderly face different levels of changes in physical body or sensation, including vision, hearing, smell, touch, mobility and cognitive function. All these are natural ageing processes.
Q2. How do elderly adjust their lifestyle to cope with the changes in ageing process？
To achieve healthy lifestyle, elderly can adjust their behaviors on various aspects, for example, having balance diets and regular sleep pattern, doing suitable exercises, quitting dangerous and bad habits. Dangerous habits include climbing up or squatting to get things frequently. These would increase the fall risks.
Q3. What are the examples of "safe, convenient and barrier-free" in an age-friendly home？
Bathroom: use zero-threshold shower instead of bath tub, or install handrails in shower area, to reduce the risk of fall accidents due to weak muscular strength in legs.
Bedroom: use see-through or glass cabinets, which can help elderly to find stored things easily.
Living room: armrests are needed on the sides and between the seats of sofa and chairs, which provide support for standing up.
Kitchen: use induction cooker, as the automatic stove turn-off function can keep elderly safe. Elderly's memory gets worse, and may forget to shut it down after cooking.
What is "Mind-Friendly Home"？
Mind-Friendly Home is part of Age-Friendly Home. It is for people with dementia.
| Concept | To create "age-friendly home", which help elderly to achieve "ageing in place" |
| Target group | People with dementia |
| Action | To reduce confusion from environment, and maintain the ability and independence of people with dementia, through home design, gerontechnology products and assistive devices |
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FAQs on Mind-Friendly Home
Q1. What challenges do people with dementia face in daily life？
They face challenges like: different levels of memory loss, confusion about what is real and unreal, difficulty in communicating with others etc. These issues adversely affect daily life, and these are not part of the normal stage of ageing.
Q2. What are the examples of "8 Principles of Mind-Friendly Home Design"?
| 8 Principles of Mind-Friendly Home Design | Examples |
| Unobtrusively reduce risks | - Provide enough lighting - Keep passageways clear |
| Reduce unhelpful stimulation | - Avoid floor and curtains with patterns |
| Create a familiar space | - Add familiar decorations and family photos |
| Allow people to see and be seen | - Avoid avant garde design - Use signages if needed |
| Optimize helpful stimulation | - Display items that they are interested, such as plants |
| Support movement and engagement | - Provide suitable setting which encourage their participation in daily activities |
| Provide opportunities to be alone or with others |
- Provide space for elderly to store personal items - Arrange some activities which elderly can go with other family members |
| Respond to a vision for way of life | - Provide a barrier-free environment - Let elderly participate in activities that make them feel meaningful |
Q3. I do not know how to design Age-Friendly Home/ Mind-Friendly Home. What can I do?
If you want to have some personalized advice on designing Age-Friendly Home, please feel free to contact our Occupational Therapists to have free consultation service, or contact other organizations to apply for on-site home assessment and modification services.
