Rehabilitation services for elderly prisoners in Hong Kong

In line with the aging population in Hong Kong, there is a growing number of elderly prisoners aged 65 or above. According to the Correctional Services Department's 2018 annual press conference by the Commissioner, individuals aged 65 or higher sentenced to correctional services institutions in 2017 amounted to 256, a 37% increase compared to 187 in 2005. The daily penal population at correctional facilities in Hong Kong was 8,529 individuals in 2017 (Hong Kong Correctional Services Department, 2018). That means 3% of the total population were elderly prisoners. Based on the newest predictions on the daily average prisoner population, it was estimated that the proportion of prisoners aged 65 or above will increase from 170, which is 2% in 2015, to 410 in 2023, making up 5% of the total prisoner population (Hong Kong Correctional Services Department, 2015). If we re-define old age as 50 years old, the increase is even more alarming. According to a research jointly conducted by Society for Community Organization and City University of Hong Kong in 2015, the number of post-release prisoners aged 50 or higher was increasing, from 1,117 in 2000 (8.68% of total post-release prisoners) to 2,020 in 2013 (21.2%) (Chui et al., 2015).