Changing needs and changing service delivery for long-term care in Hong Kong

Both the need for and delivery of long-term care in Hong Kong are shaped by the interaction of the traditional and modern. Rapid social change is affecting traditional family structures and roles in care of the elderly, resulting in increased demand for formal care, which to date has been provided mainly by way of residential care. This growth of demand will escalate with rapid population aging in coming decades. In response to this burgeoning demand, current planning is seeking to reshape the established service system and tackle problems in service delivery in ways that will address the bias towards residential care and improve quality of care.     

Markets,choice of kindergarten,mothers' care responsibilities,and the voucher scheme in Hong Kong

This paper examines choice of kindergarten by mothers of different socio-economic status (SES) for children aged 3 while using vouchers in Hong Kong. It identifies potential market failure to meet needs and preferences and ensure access to preferred options for all, and thus challenges the global prevalence of the market approach to early childhood services. It questions gendered responsibility and policy that prevents mothers from fulfilling care responsibilities for young children. This paper presents data from a mixed-method study including an analysis of mothers' options in terms of convenience and their views on the impact of the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (thereafter voucher scheme) and local provision. Data were collected from two questionnaires, seven focus groups, and government documents. The quantitative data covered two-parent households using vouchers, with 1572 and 1360 mothers responding to the initial and follow-up questionnaires, respectively. The qualitative data from 33 mothers were coded and analyzed to capture recurring themes and nuances. Official figures were tabulated to investigate market adjustments relating to changes in demand and supply. The results reveal mothers' strong emphasis on convenience when making choices of kindergarten, the significance of SES in their choice and views, and issues of access linked to market situations and failure. They are discussed in terms of the nature, allocation, and fulfillment of care responsibilities in markets. The results lend support to the international call for active government involvement to achieve the dual goals of early childhood services (meeting children's educational needs and parents' employment needs) and show how markets may neglect the specific nature of care responsibilities, which in turn can exacerbate historical injustices in society.     

A proposal for change to achieve competence in long-term psychosocial nursing care

Psychiatric nursing in a large institutional setting presents challenges to the nursing staff, who must remain competent in the specialized areas of psychiatric and medical nursing. Chronically mentally ill individuals present complex and continuing nursing care needs that must be addressed using a holistic approach to nursing assessment and care. The complex needs of nursing staff and patients in an institutional setting have been described. Methods of assisting the nurse to achieve competence using education and experience have been implemented and described with the goal of improving holistic nursing care to chronically institutionalized individuals.     

A family ecological analysis of child care use in Hong Kong

This study examines the views on and use of day care for young children among white‐collar working women from a family ecological perspective. Discrepancies between perceived ideal and actual choice of child care were observed. Care provided by family kin was an ideal used with reservation, the employment of foreign domestic helpers was a reluctant choice, while the use of formal care was largely unexplored. The findings of this study demonstrate how individual families' child‐rearing goals are supported and constrained by contextual factors within the ecology. Implications for policies on child care in Hong Kong are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A review of private residential care in Hong Kong: implications for policy and practice

Hong Kong government policy encourages and facilitates families to care for their older members as long as possible by providing families and their older relatives with community support services. Residential care for the elderly is viewed as a last resort. Due to the inadequate supply of community support services, the long period of care required, and the gradual breakdown of values of filial support, families may increasingly give up their caring roles and seek residential care for their dependent elderly relatives. A shortfall in subsidized residential care may lead to needy elderly persons' being cared for in private residential facilities. The demand for private residential care is projected to increase, despite criticism about the standard of care provided. Although an Ordinance, a Regulation, and a Code of Practice for residential care homes are in place to control, monitor, and upgrade private residential care in Hong Kong, problems remain that put the elderly at risk of receiving substandard services. These include the existence of substandard private aged care homes operating either with or without a license; the provision of substandard "places" to the elderly under the government's "bought place" scheme and "enhanced bought place" scheme; ineffective inspection; a lack of grading to indicate the quality of private aged care homes; and a general neglect of the quality of care. We provide recommendations to address these concerns. This requires paying attention to both the quality of care, as well as to the physical environment of homes.     

Injustice in family care of the Chinese elderly in Hong Kong

With increasing longevity, family care of the Chinese elderly in Hong Kong is evolving as a "caring trap" for female caregivers, especially unmarried daughters. Despite this, as Hong Kong is still a patriarchal Chinese society, most of the major decisions affecting the destiny of frail elders are made by sons or other male members of the family. The unequal gender roles, obligations, and division of caregiving responsibilities within the Chinese family and their effects on the caring relationship are discussed. Implications of this injustice based on gender regarding family care of the elderly and the possibility of its elimination are examined.     

A Hong Kong Woman on Teaching

SHE has black hair,very beautiful eyes and a smile alwaysplaying on her lips,sixth-grade Pan Yong wrote in his diary.Hewas describing his teacher,Zhou Kefan,a young Hong Kong womanwho came to teach for half a year in the mainland’s southern remotemountains inhabited by the Yao people. A graduate of the preparatory course from Hong Kong LiBaochun United International Academy of Classical Learning,ZhouKefan has been a good scholar with an agreeable demeanor since shewas little.Just as she had decided to go to the United States to studyfurthe,a voluntary teaching position on the mainland made herchange her mind. A long-term help and support to the Nangang Primary School in     

Hong Kong Chinese explanations for wealth

This study set out to replicate and extend studies done on attributions for affluence in Western, industrialized countries to a country famous for its wealth and economic growth. Over 100 subjects in Hong Kong rated explanations for wealth according to importance. Results showed that overall the subjects tended to endorse individualistic explanations for wealth while negating the relative importance of societal or fatalistic factors. There were few sex or income effects no doubt due to the sample tested. A factor analysis revealed two clear factors: internal-external (individualistic-collectivistic). The results are discussed in terms of the unique position of Hong Kong.     

Defining child abuse in Hong Kong

Definitions of child abuse are culturally driven. Hong Kong, with a predominantly Chinese population, has managed to eradicate much of the societal abuse that children suffer elsewhere in Asia. Professional and government attention has now shifted to child abuse and neglect within the family. The paper, based on interviews with key professionals. analysis of policy documents and practice records examines traditional Chinese parent-child relationships. the status of parental authority and corporal punishment and changes in contemporary Hong Kong family life. It goes on to outline the development of responses to child abuse in Hong Kong, some of the dilemmas that professionals face in defining abuse and areas for future research.     

Elder Abuse in Hong Kong:

No abstract available for this article.     

Hong Kong and China in 1997

In 1997, Hong Kong changes from a British colony to a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. While officially it has been agreed that the status change should not alter the economic or social conditions in the territory substantially, many people believe that residents' lives will be considerably affected. Hong Kong society has always been highly mobile and fluid in terms of migration, and it is only very recently that over half of the population have been born in the tenitory Many elderly people in Hong Kong were bom elsewhere and many Hong Kong families are fragmented, with members living in China, elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, North America, Australia, and Britain. The potential impact of 1997 on the lives and conditions of elderly residents is only now forming a focus of concern. This article considers what may happen in the closing years of this century and early next when the SAR emerges. There is already growing popular belief that, for financial and social reasons, some elderly people are going back to China for their retirement. However, evidence from a survey of 419 noninstitutionalized respondents found relatively few expressing a desire or willingness to retire to China. This article concludes with a discussion of why this may be so. A major reason may be that, with the increasing ease of visits between Hong Kong and China, Hong Kong elderly people might feel more comfortable with alternately living in China and Hong Kong instead of taking the bold decision of permanently living in China.     

香港青年国家认同研究综述

近些年,香港人国家认同问题备受学界的关注。国内外在有关香港同胞的国家认同状况、影响因素及其建构路径等问题领域开展了较为深入的研究,并取得了显著的进展,但既有研究缺乏对内地港籍学生的关注、未能全方位把握其身份认同结构,且实证研究较为匮乏。加强对内地港籍大学生群体的必要关注、借用多重认同理论模型强化该群体国家认同的学理研究、考察内地青年的态度反应对香港青年国家认同的影响以及加强香港青年国家认同的实证研究将成为今后该问题领域的发展趋势。     

Gender and intimate caregiving for the elderly in Hong Kong

This paper analyzes the special challenges posed by caregiving provided by adult children to their physically impaired parents and in-laws, particularly as they relate to the issues of gendered eldercare and caregiving stress. Through the use of 16 semi-structured intensive interviews conducted in Hong Kong, we find that the discourses on sexualized and gendered bodies create formidable obstacles to the caregiving process. The sexual taboo in its various manifestations induces discomfit and even repulsion in situations where private parts of the body of the elderly are exposed and touched. Such hindrances create conflicts and stress for caregivers and care receivers alike, especially for women caregivers due to the social expectation that they are “natural” caregivers. Our study suggests that the key to overcoming such obstacles depends on a strong sense of filial gratitude, as well as the successful development of a respectful caregiving relationship between children and parents.     

A Cultural Exploration Based on Structured Observational Methods in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study contributes to the debate on applying parenting style typologies to the Chinese population by using structured observational methods in examining parenting behaviors and styles in parent-child interactions in problem-solving situations. Participants were 81 parent-child dyads in Hong Kong. The four parenting groups identified through cluster analysis were authoritative, authoritarian, disengaged, and task-oriented. This clustering was compared internally on parenting attributes and child's school-related outcomes, as well as externally with the Parent Behavior Report typology assessed through the child-report method. Discussion was based on the conceptual and theoretical implications of this new clustering using observational methods.     

Mobility and work-residence matching for new immigrants in Hong Kong

Due to their prominence in contributing to Hong Kong's population growth in recent years, new immigrants' housing preference play a crucial role on shaping housing demand. However, previous studies have not focused on their characteristics. This study aims to identify the factors which influence residential mobility and work-residence matching of households with new immigrants, based on the most recent Population census data in Hong Kong. The findings indicate that households which contain Mainland Chinese immigrants are more mobile residentially and have better work-residence matching than those with non-Chinese immigrants. Besides, the work-residence matching preference is stronger for a household with all of its members immigrating to Hong Kong together. In addition, it is found that both district poverty and housing affordability keep households from obtaining better work-residence matching in general. The impact of the latter is particularly remarkable among households with foreign immigrants. These new findings would provide valuable implications for policy and market development.     

Towards Culturally Sensitive EAP Counseling for Chinese in Hong Kong

Abstract

With the economic recession in Hong Kong, employee assistance programs (EAP) have become increasingly imperative. This paper reviews the existing methods of operation of EAP counseling in Hong Kong. Two models of operation-internal and external-are identified. While each model has its strengths and weaknesses, neither has taken into account the importance of cultural context. Most EAP counseling services in Hong Kong reflect an unrefined attempt to adapt Western theories to the Chinese cultural context of Hong Kong. The result is often a mismatch between the theoretical framework and the cultural realities. This paper suggests a non-normative, culturally sensitive model that concentrates on the strengths of the employees and the organization. The model is based on a solution-focused framework that integrates cultural, organizational factors and intervention approaches.