Hong Kong’s young workers hold the key to future of geriatric care
Shattering the less-than-flattering image of aged care, a younger generation of caregivers is answering an urgent need and stepping up to the challenge of working at elderly homes
Chan Cheuk-man tried many jobs after leaving school, from property management to clerical work, none of which gave him the sense of achievement he sought. The 24-year-old has now found satisfaction working as a caregiver for the elderly, but friends and family were aghast when he decided to take the job last October.
“Very few people had anything positive to say about the job. People see it as undesirable work, jobs for people who didn’t do well in school or for foreign labour,” Chan says.
“On the third day, I had to change diapers and clean up excrement. A lot of people focus on this aspect of the job and say that you’ll have to deal with the smell and the filth,” he says. “But once I actually started doing the work, I realised ... I can help an elderly person.
“It’s not like you spend the whole day changing diapers. I have to take care of the elderly residents’ spiritual needs as well, so they don’t feel lonely, unwanted or abandoned to live in a nursing home.”
The knowledge and skills he picked up have already proved useful outside his workplace. They certainly came in handy when Chan’s mother was recovering at home after eye surgery recently – and overcame her objections to his choice of career.
His familiarity with dementia also enabled him to identify the problem when he encountered an elderly man seeking directions on a street in Prince Edward. Chan got the man to call his family and arranged for them to pick him up, advising them to seek help from a doctor or social worker,
