Enhancing Quality of Life of Elders in Care and Attention Homes in Hong Kong through a Facility Management Model

Description

Although the birth rate in Hong Kong (HK) ranks among the world’s lowest, life expectancy is among the highest. As a result, the proportion of elderly people in the HK population is increasing and has been projected to reach 24% of the total by 2031. Some elderly people live in relatively poor communities with insufficient facilities, and possibly without adequate family support. Their dilapidated housing implies poor Quality of Life (QoL), with all the associated health and safety problems. Hence, the HK government has announced plans to earmark a one-off tranche of funding of $200 million over the next five years to help improve housing for the elderly (HKSAR 2007).The physical environment in which we live is a recognized dimension of QoL (The World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment [WHOQOL] Group 1998a), and is likely to be particularly important for elderly persons living in residential care. Due to limitations in their health and mobility, many older people spend most of their time at home and depend on facilities and facilities management (FM), to compensate for their physical and biological problems and also to maintain their psychological wellbeing. ‘Ageing in Place’ was one of the objectives initiated by the HK Chief Executive in his recent Policy Address (HKSAR 2007). However, the HK government only introduced the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance in 1996 and the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism in 2002; both include only simple environmental items.There is extensive literature about facilities management, caring environmental design, occupancy evaluation, and QoL for adults and the elderly, but there is a lack of study about the integration of all of these aspects for the elderly. The purpose of this research is to enhance the QoL of the elderly in Care and Attention (C&A) homes through integrated facilities management(FM). The objectives are: (1) to identify FM components in C&A homes and QoL indicators for the elderly; (2) to establish FM–QoL relationships for the elderly in C&A homes; (3) to develop an integrated FM-QoL model; (4) to verify the model by case studies; and (5) to establish FM guidelines for enhancing the QoL of the elderly in C&A homes. It is envisaged that the findings of this study will promote the development of a proactive assessment of FM in C&A homes, and will enhance the QoL of the elderly in residential C&A homes by disseminating the results throughout the industry.