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There are many problems associated with the city’s ageing One of the key problems in Hong Kong is that, compared to other
population. In our report Fit for Purpose: A Health System for the developed places, there is a much higher proportion of elders
st
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21 Century, some key challenges identified in relation to ageing living in residential care institutions. This is due to a proliferation
include a high institutionalisation rate of elderly in residential of residential care services (RCS) and limited and unaffordable
homes, weak primary care when it comes to chronic disease community care services (CCS) (Chui, 2011). However, the
prevention and management, severe manpower shortages Government’s vision for the elderly is “ageing in place as the
resulting in increased caregiver burden, and inadequate core, institutional care as back-up” (Legislative Council (LegCo),
medical-social collaboration for meeting the health and welfare 2016, February 16; Elderly Commission, 2017). Ageing-in-place
needs of elders (OHKF, 2018). There are ways that gerontech means empowering elders to continue living independently in
can address each of these key challenges (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Gerontech’s position in ageing-related policy directions

Ageing-in-Place Primary Care

Electric Health
wheelchair monitoring
devices
Gerontech
examples

Smart Care
medication robots
system

Medical-social Manpower
Collaboration shortage

A self-sustaining Hong Kong gerontech economic industry

Hong Kong’s institutionalisation rate (8.10%) is among the highest compared to many developed places, such as Sweden (4.20%), South Korea (2.73%) and Japan (2.64%) (C&SD,
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2018; Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, 2021).
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