'Carer hotline should have emergency response team'

A hotline offering assistance to caregivers is failing to address the urgent needs of some callers and a special team is needed to provide emergency support, a community group says. The 182 183 hotline launched last year is staffed 24 hours a day and the government says it offers strong support to callers with a range of enquiries, including those who want counselling or details of community services. But the Society for Community Organisation (SoCo) on Sunday said a joint study with Lingnan University's Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS) has shed light on the difficult situation many carers find themselves in. A survey carried out between March and June this year found that on average, those being looked after suffered from two chronic illnesses – as did the carers themselves. Professor Dickson Chan, the director or APIAS, said the hotline isn't enough to address the needs of some carers. "They [hotline staff] may give them another phone number and ask them to call another organisation. This means that actually they cannot receive concrete and immediate support through the hotline," he said. "Our proposal is maybe the government can consider setting up a special team and the special team is attached to the hotline. So when the older people are in urgent need... the hotline can maybe pass the needs to a special team and after a brief assessment, the team can offer immediate support services for the older people." SoCo meanwhile called for the government to relax income limits so more people can get financial support under the Scheme on Living Allowance for Carers of Elderly Persons from Low-income Families.