Operation Santa Claus: Hong Kong charity aims to help prevent potentially fatal falls among high-risk elderly people
- St Barnabas’ Society and Home says new assessment project will help elderly people avoid falls and risks from broken bones
- Society chairman Dr Lui Wai-hee says Covid-19 restrictions affected elderly badly as their health ‘went downhill’ because of lack of exercise
A long-established Hong Kong charity set up to help people living in poverty is to launch a new project to help elderly clients avoid falls and the risk of broken bones.
The project by Saint Barnabas’ Society and Home will assess 100 underprivileged elderly people for fall injury risk and those judged to be in need will get follow-up consultations, examinations, medicines, a walking aid, fall prevention shoes and therapist-guided exercise sessions.
“After Covid, many people, especially the elderly, report their general health went downhill, Dr Lui Wai-hee, the society’s chairman and a specialist in orthopaedics and traumatology, said. “They are less strong and feel weak, which are predisposing factors to fall injuries.”
The society, founded in 1987, is one of 15 charitable projects by good causes being funded this year by Operation Santa Claus (OSC), an annual fundraising drive held by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK.
Dr Lui said fall injuries were already common among older people because of poor balance and eyesight, as well as joint pain and muscle weakness.
