Hong Kong elderly with dementia should receive early care before diagnosis, mental health advisory chief says

Dr Lam Ching-choi, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Mental Health, will review process of screening dementia patients to address ‘bottleneck’ in healthcare system

Latest government figures show number of dementia patients receiving treatment at public hospitals had increased from 72,900 in 2018 to 84,100 in 2022

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The number of dementia patients treated at Hong Kong public hospitals increased from 72,900 in 2018 to 84,100 in 2022. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00am, 20 May 2024Updated: 1:08pm, 20 May 2024

Elderly Hong Kong residents believed to have dementia should receive earlier community care support from the government when facing long waiting times for diagnostic services at public hospitals, the head of a mental health advisory committee has said.

Veteran paediatrician Dr Lam Ching-choi, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Mental Health, said his team would review the process of screening, diagnosing and supporting dementia patients to address “a bottleneck” in the healthcare system.

“Existing medications cannot actually cure dementia. What we can do is slow its progression and provide support to patients and their families. We can say there is more to do in the community than what can be done in the medical system,” he told the Post on Friday.

Lam, who is also a former chairman of the government’s Elderly Commission and a member of the city’s top decision-making Executive Council, said under the current system “people suffering from dementia have to queue for a long time for diagnostic services at the Hospital Authority, which may delay their treatment and support from the community”.

“This is the bottleneck we are facing,” he said.

The authority said dementia patients commonly suffered from various other chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, on top of being susceptible to memory loss and prone to falls.